Grayson Creek, Pleasant Hill

The creek starts in the hills of Briones Regional Park and flows northeast for about 7.4 miles, through Pleasant Hill and Pacheco, into Pacheco Slough and on to Suisun Bay. It has three forks, and the middle fork also runs through Pleasant Hill.

The creek has a local story of its own. In 1984, a proposal would have lined long stretches of it with concrete for flood control. Residents pushed back and organized for a more natural approach, one that kept room for wildlife habitat and recreation. That idea still shapes how the creek is managed today: the county, the City, and the Army Corps of Engineers have studied ways to improve flood protection while restoring the creek's natural banks, and volunteers hold regular cleanups and native planting days along it.

Grayson Creek has no school inside it, but several are a short drive away. Valhalla Elementary School is to the northeast on Kiki Drive, and Strandwood Elementary School is to the southeast on Gladys Drive, both public schools for kindergarten through grade 5. College Park High School and Valley View Middle School sit side by side on Viking Drive. All are in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District. Pleasant Hill Adventist Academy, a private school for kindergarten through grade 12, is to the south on Grayson Road. School boundaries don't follow neighborhood names, so check the district's boundary map for any address you're considering. The Pleasant Hill page lists the public and private schools across the city.

The Contra Costa Canal Trail, a flat, paved 13.5-mile regional trail for walkers, runners, and cyclists, follows the canal through Pleasant Hill between Martinez and Concord and connects to Las Juntas Open Space and, by a short connector, the Pleasant Hill BART station. Shannon Hills Park and Rodgers-Smith Park are park district parks on the city's west side, and Paso Nogal Park's trails are a few minutes northeast. For young athletes, the Pleasant Hill Baseball Association has run baseball and softball in the city since 1958. Downtown Pleasant Hill is a short drive southeast.

Pleasant Hill has no extra city transfer tax, only Contra Costa County's. There's no ordinance requiring a sewer lateral certificate in Pleasant Hill, however a sewer lateral inspection is recommended. The City does ask for one form of its own: a time-of-sale weatherization disclosure, a short checklist of energy items like attic insulation, weatherstripping, and an insulated water heater, which the buyer returns to the City after closing. Most of Pleasant Hill is not in a state fire hazard severity zone, but it is worth checking the address; a home in the small High zone on the city's west edge adds a routine defensible space inspection. For a home near the creek, the natural hazard disclosure will show whether it is in a flood zone. My Pleasant Hill home selling page explains the steps.

Homeowners move on for all kinds of reasons including (but not limited to): upsizing to a second or third home, divorce, relocating for work, or the passing of a family member.

Tanja Odzak is a Top East Bay Realtor with eXp Realty, helping buyers and sellers in Pleasant Hill and across the East Bay. Grayson Creek is a residential neighborhood in northwest Pleasant Hill, named for the creek that runs through it. It is known for its single-family homes, the green corridor the creek brings with it, and easy access to the Contra Costa Canal Trail. The MLS has no single area name for Grayson Creek, so in the home prices below, Grayson Creek means the homes inside the Grayson Creek boundary we use for our own home search.