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Tuesday, 4th October 2005 by Alex Turnbull
Can anyone explain why someone has planted this rectangular-ish line of trees outside of Oakland, CA? And while we’re at it, what the heck is this?
Thanks to Bob (Canadian) Thompson.
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Odds are someone merely planted trees to line the boundary of their land.
Could it be related to this?
“Rifle Range Rd” runs within 600 meters of the corner.
(wishing there was a preview button…not sure I got the link syntax right)
The ‘unknown’ thing seems to just be a power pylon. There’s another just to the NNE / Google Earth, and another directly north of that.
I’m with Jenguin on the treeline. They probably planted cypress as a windbreak which has different foliage colour to the local trees.
Those aren’t trees. Thats how white thorn and mountain mahogany (a huge shrub/small tree) look when growing close together. Pretty easy to do in this area (it Could also be manzanita but I it doesn’t seem yellow enough… I’m not sure what plants those are exactly, but I’ll be damned of those are regular “trees.” it was definately planted on purpose. I should check with some Forest Service buddies and see if they know (Thats either BLM or Forest Service land from what I can tell…)
-Karnack
Ask Miller of Miller Road?
I think Don has it, the machine gun range. It looks like Rifle Range Road used to lead directly there, but was re-routed later at this T-intersection / Google Earth.
So is it me, or did Google just seriously shrink the size of the map you can view? I remember it (even from a few days ago) as being closer to fullscreen. Am I crazy?
Mike, today Google seem to have moved the search results section onto the left hand side of the page, but as far as I can see, the map window is still the same size. More info at Google Maps Mania.
I’m thinking they are eucalyptus trees…they seem to be much taller and casting shadows on the lower vegetation (oaks?) along the southern perimeter. It was common in the late 1800′s, early 1900′s to plant imported eucalyptus trees as windbreaks, since they grow tall, are not deciduous and require little water.
Thanks for the tip, Alex. Having the mostly-empty space on the right side may have made it more noticeable.
Not to by a traitor, but I may also have been spoiled by MSN’s mapping site that I noticed the other day. It goes almost completely fullscreen, and the U.S. satellite imagery is significantly higher resolution. (of course, outside the U.S. the resolution is pitiful)
It’s (MSN) fullscreen and higher resolution in some places but with the trade off of the rest of being crap (IMO). Loads slow and very often leaves entire map chunks out unless you scroll around or fresh a jillion times.
I only use it when I find places that are in low res in google that I REALLY want to see.
fresh should be refresh
I checked out my city (Virginia Beach, VA.) on the MSN Mapping site. I found strawberry fields where my 1500 home developement should be as well as farms where the TPC of VB and Arnold Palmer’s Signature at West Neck golf courses should be. There are aircraft at Oceana Naval Air Station that were retired 10 years ago. What did they take those aerial photos with, a cropduster?
…. It’s Googlemania for me.
Unfortunately for Oakland Hills residents, eucalyptus trees are also full of oil, so they tend to explode in fires.
I’m pretty sure that Bob E.’s eucalyptus theory is correct. Here’s a similar example a few miles NW of the first one, just outside San Pablo:
View Placemark / Google Earth
I used to hike along trails in Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, and I remember passing a long, straight wall of eucalyptus right about there.
If you switch to the Hybrid map, you can see that the eucalyptus trees follow the boundary between the park and private land.
This is about 30 miles from me and the next time I’m in the area, I’ll have to check it out. I used Google Earth to get a different view and posted an image showing an easy access on Kaiser Creek Rd: http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=60496690&size=o
There are buildings in just about the geometric center of the “square.” I’m betting they’re eucalyptus outlining someone’s property. Paved road leading to them from the SW corner through the woods.