Gondola - Four Minutes to the Hilltop

A stop on Oakland Zoo: Savanna to California Trail, a free self-guided tour.

This is California Station, the lower end of the gondola. Opened in 2018, it carries visitors in small eight-person cabins over the hills of Knowland Park to the California Trail, about 650 feet above sea level. The ride takes about four minutes and is free with admission.

The gondola is all-electric and its cabins are ADA-accessible, which matters here: the fire road up the hill is closed to the public, so the gondola is the way up for everyone, including wheelchair users.

As you rise, look down at the open grassland. This is part of the zoo's Ecological Recovery Zone, where native plants and the rare Alameda striped racer snake are protected. Watch the hillside below for the bison herd, and look back for views across the East Bay.

Getting here: From the lions, walk back downhill to the gondola's California Station beside the savanna.

Did you know?: The California Trail roughly doubled the zoo's size when it opened in 2018, from about 45 acres to 100.

Photo op: On the way up, shoot back through the cabin window toward the valley and the bay beyond.

For kids: Count the towers the gondola passes on the way up, then check your count on the way down.

Nearby: Food is sold near the lower station; the nearest restrooms are by the meerkats on the savanna loop, and more wait at the top.

More on Wikipedia: Gondola lift · Alameda whipsnake

Gondola - Four Minutes to the Hilltop

Stops on this tour