Did you know that the East Bay Regional Parks District is the largest urban park system in the entire country? This geocache is part of the Passport to the East Bay Parks series.
There is one special geocache in each of the East Bay Regional Parks properties (except a few that don't allow geocaches.) At the time of this cache placement, the park district encompasses 199,000 acres. Please enjoy all the parks and trails, but please respect the Park rules.
Be sure to stamp your passport with the stamp provided in the geocache. Many of the Passport geocaches have blank passport booklets in the container. You can also download a Passport via Passport To The Parks
When you completely fill up your Passport, you can redeem it for a special prize. Of course, there is no cost for participating. For further information on the Passport series, see Passport To The Parks
Cull Canyon Regional Recreation Area is a great park to bring families, with a big picnic area and a fantastic swim lagoon, as well as access to 14 miles of trails. It's one of the more popular spots for weekends, especially during the summer when the swimming facility is open. The trails are open to hikers, equestrians and bicycles.
Special Note about this cache: Since I first began geocaching in 2006, I have wanted to place a cache somewhere in this park for a very special reason - I am from the Cull family for which this area was named. My great-grandfather, Hugh Creal Cull, was brother to William Slade Cull, who ranched this area and gave it the name Cull Canyon. We have had several family reunions here.
William Cull, the eldest son of James Cull and Eliza Slade, came out to join the Gold Rush in 1849. He and his brother-in-law, Daniel Luce, tried their hand at mining, but eventually became ranchers in the area, purchasing 2200 acres of land near Castro Valley, which they ranched together until they split the land. Luce continued to ranch cattle, while Cull planted orchards.
After the Civil War, three younger brothers came out to California to join their brother. My great-grandfather, Hugh, and his brothers, Seaton and Lycurgus. Hugh purchased land in the Livermore Valley, which he sold under mysterious circumstances. Eventually, he moved his family to Fresno, where his oldest son, Samuel Joshua Cull, my grandfather, eventually became a grape farmer in Kerman, where my mother was born.
William Slade Cull died of heart failure in 1896, leaving his only son, William Davenport Cull, to farm the land, which he did until his only son, Jim, left home. The farm was abandoned and "Bill" ended his days in a nursing home in Alameda. He died in 1950. The property was left under the control of the EBMUD until 1961 when the dam was constructed and EBRPD took it over to create what is now a nice park and recreational area.
Remember to stamp your passport. There are a few in the cache at the time of placement. Also, there is an FTF prize of an unactivated Long Island Geocaching geocoin. Be sure to rehide the cache well and be mindful of poison oak, though I didn't see any close by the cache.
