San Pablo Dam Rd, El Sobrante

San Pablo Dam Road is a way that locals take when they want to go from the Lamorinda or Walnut Creek area over to the Richmond or North Bay area without running into the traffic in the Berkeley/Bay Bridge area. Its really little more than a country road as you head over into Orinda. The San Pablo Dam Reservoir is a good place to go if you want to boat or have some outdoor fun.

The area off of the interstate is not the nicest, and resembles nearby Richmond more closely than some of the nicer suburban areas in the town. The street definitely has a working-class feel, but work your way further east and you will come upon some modest suburban homes that run along this main drag and seem to get larger and larger as you work your way along. Eventually, the street winds through woods and parkland and arrives at the lovely San Pablo reservoir.

Essentially, the worst part of this neighborhood is the area right by the interstate, like many Bay Area towns. If you can escape east, this is actually one of the hidden gems of the San Francisco Bay that many of the locals have never even heard of. It will never be the *best* street to live on, given the amount of traffic (particularly at the I-80 junction), but there are definitely some perks to living on this somewhat residential, somewhat reasonable street. Just don't expect to come here for raging, exciting nightlife.