Trail of the Week 17: Blake to Manor Path (#22)

Another short flatland path, one that may be of little interest to most but that is probably well used by neighbors, the Blake to Manor Path. Many of you have probably driven right past the entrance on Blake. For cars, Richmond Street is second only to San Pablo Ave. as a north-south corridor in El Cerrito. But it ends at Blake and northbound traffic makes a small dogleg west onto Elm. Take a look sometime when you are stopped at the intersect there. Where Richmond would have continued north is the Blake – Manor Path. It could have easily been called the Richmond Path.

If you live anywhere other than Manor Circle, you probably don’t have much use for this short path. But if you live there, or know people who do, it is a useful corridor. Because for walkers and bikers it doubles the number of ways you can enter or leave the Manor subdivision.

​The only way in or out for cars to Manor is the entrance off of Elm. This bit of two-way road lasts a little more than 100 feet before becoming a one-way loop. There are about two dozen homes on Manor Cirle and if it weren’t for the path the residents would have to walk all the way back to the Elm entrance. Instead they can escape via the Blake path, the entrance of which is cunningly hidden behind the start of the driveway at 1728.

The way out

So let’s hear it for the Blake to Manor Path, a simple solution that makes a small neighborhood just that much more livable and proves the relevance of paths, trails walkways and stairs to the urban, or suburban, planning.