PETITION TO THE EAST BAY REGIONAL PARK DISTRICT
Extend Mission Peak Ohlone College Entrance Hours Until 11 PM

To:
East Bay Regional Park District Board of Directors
Max Korten, General Manager
Roberto Filice, Assistant General Manager of Public Safety / Chief of Police

Dear Members of the Board, General Manager Korten, and Chief Filice:

We, the undersigned members and supporters of the Mission Peak hiking community, ask the East Bay Regional Park District to extend the Ohlone College entrance hours until 11:00 PM.

For approximately ten years, our group has hiked Mission Peak weekly in the evenings. Hundreds of people have participated over the years, creating a large and well-established Bay Area hiking community. Our activities have always been peaceful. We hike for exercise, recreation, friendship, and time outdoors.

Our group has been covered by local media, and during COVID, when park services were reduced, our members voluntarily collected trash from the summit to keep Mission Peak clean.

For many years, we maintained good relations with Fremont Police and Ohlone College Police. Our group had a verbal understanding that our vehicles had to be removed from the Ohlone College parking garage by 11:00 PM. We followed that requirement, and our evening hikes took place openly and regularly for years without law enforcement problems.

Then, suddenly, everything changed.

On August 12, 2026, at approximately 9:00 PM — about one hour before the official 10:00 PM closing time for the Ohlone College entrance — a Park Police officer confronted members of our group near the Mission Peak Hike restroom and ordered them to leave, stating incorrectly that the park was already closed.

One week later, on August 19, at approximately 10:00 PM, EBRPD Police conducted a major enforcement operation against our hiking group. Five patrol vehicles were deployed on the mountain near the Mission Peak Hike Restroom. Seven hikers received citations. Several more police vehicles were positioned at or near the Ohlone College park exit as other hikers returned.

Our group has not engaged in violence, vandalism, theft, drugs, or behavior threatening public safety. It’s not clear what made the police perform this sudden action. According to the response to our recent inquiry, the EBRPD Police has not been involved in any other incidents in the Mission Peak park in those two weeks. That’s despite the fact that during each of our hikes we see many other hikers, not from our group, who leave the park well after 10 PM.

WE ASK EBRPD TO:

1. Extend the official closing time for the Ohlone College entrance from 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM to allow working taxpayers to socialize, exercise and maintain work/life balance. Most of us work until late, and being able to hike after work in the evening hours is vital to us.

2. Review and dismiss the seven August 19 citations where legally and administratively appropriate, considering the long-standing practice and prior verbal understanding with local law enforcement. 

We respect the responsibility of EBRPD Police to protect park visitors, public safety, and the environment. But we believe that peaceful hikers in after dark hours should not be treated as offenders. Extending the Ohlone College route closing time by one hour will, in our opinion, be the most optimal, mutually satisfying solution.

We respectfully request a written response and an opportunity for representatives of our community to meet with District leadership.

Sincerely,

Members and supporters of the Mission Peak hiking community