Cleveland Cascade

It’s a great way to burn calories and pay the price for whatever indulgence you partook in over the weekend. For all fitness levels, amateurs to athletes. Lights out at 10pm sharp. Don’t get caught in the dark! Nice partial view of the lake as well.

Convenient, never too crowded, awesome view, lit up at night so you feel secure that you won’t fall and bust your ass as your climbing up the stairs… or get kidnapped… Have a great workout! :)

Great place to get that quick cardio! Get that heart rate up and burn those calories when i dont have time to jog the whole lake merrit.

I live here.
I love it here.
Lots of booties are sculpted on these stairs.
While I watch from my kitchen window :-)

This place is beautiful. It overlooks the lake and stairs will kick your ass for a workout. Great places to sit. I just wish, the local community would take more interest in keeping it clean. Seriously people if you see trash, pick it up once you start the trend other people will follow. Also how about focus on some more plants that bloom! Green is color but anyone benefits from a little more color in their lives.
Lastly you meat heads. If your going to work out here, please be courteous to everyone else around you.
Don’t hog up the the stairs doing your workout and people can’t get around you.
Don’t play your music so loud I can hear about your gangster bull shit song about killing people.
Men, keep your sexual conquests to yourself unless you’re writing for penthouse.
Ladies, spandex is great, but if you have to butter up before you put it on, it might be a little tight SHENAWKUA. Do the rest of us a favor and don’t be THE distraction.
Lastly, smile, say good morning freaking be friendly oaklanders. too many folks around there in their own little world.
Ya that was me cleaning up that morning, saying hello and smiling at everyone. You only live once, put a freaking smile on bitches.

Over the years I’ve seen this place go from a over grown areas with steps on each side to a renovated beautiful historic land mark. I had some of my best workout in this areas. My best with out gassing out was running non stop up and down the stairs 10 times. I really like what they did with the lights at night. I really glad that there are people in that community that care enough to spend time making this place vibrant and majestic. Keep up the good work!!!

The Cleveland Cascade is a stone staircase that links the shores of Lake Merritt with the hilly neighborhoods immediately to the east. If you already love walking or running around the otherwise flat shores of Lake Merritt, climbing the Cleveland Cascade provides a perfect added step — no pun intended — of difficulty to your workout routine. Indeed, on any given day, there are plenty of people catching some exercise up and down the steps here. Like much of Oakland as a whole, especially when compared with the rest of the Bay Area, this is a true hidden treasure.

I made it up three of the steps. Next month, after i have recovered, I hope to make it up five steps. The problem is how I’m gonna get down… I’ll never make it to the top.
I give this place five stars, since i have a hard time trashing the steps.

I run these steps every morning, and sometimes at night… really depends on the mood I I am in. This place is so tranquil. I have enjoyed so many moments here simply mentally relaxing as I kill myself running up the stairs, and then decompressing as I run down the stairs.
I live exactly 1 mile from the steps, so I gear up and run over via Lake Merritt. The scenery is impeccable. I love the area, the neighborhood, the people.
There are usually a lot of people working out here with different «boot camp» instructors, then there are a few people doing cardio workouts here, there are always kids running around and lots of people to exercise with or at least near :)
I have a gym membership and even a personal trainer, but with these steps so close to home who needs all the accouterments to make it special or more meaningful? Not this hippie chic for sure :)
Thanks Oakland for keeping it simple.
Stephani Sweats and Smiles for Cleveland Cascade ;)

Lots of stairs! My wife had been talking about checking this place out for a while, so after brunch and a stop at the new cat Café in Oakland, I agreed to drive over to Lake Merritt. We found parking on the street and then looked up at the giant flight of steps ahead of us.
I actually thought there would be more stairs, but was glad there weren’t after walking up and down them once. There are pretty gardens and trees and greenery all around. Amy did a second lap while I waited at the bottom. A lady at the bottom kept going up and down the first set of stairs (five steps or so?) over and over. Perhaps she didn’t see the other 100 stairs in front of her.

The Cleveland Cascade in Oakland has a wonderful history, and photos of her glory days (1920−30s) are easy to find online. The water is no longer running down the hill, but certainly lots of people are.
I walked up and down the stairs once, and then ran them up and down, holding onto the handrail for safety as I descended. There are garbage cans at the bottom of the stairs and thankfully we didn’t see any trash around or on them. All we saw were the pretty views of the lake, the plant life around us, and a couple other people walking/​running the stairs.

Street parking in the neighborhoods or along Lake Merritt. According to a sign, there are 139 steps to Cleveland Cascade. I tried counting, but I lost count!
Going up definitely was a killer for me. Totally got in a nice little workout making a couple rounds on these beautiful steps.

This doesn’t need a review. It’s just some pretty stairs. I like them, you will too. Haven’t gone at night time, but I hear they are gonna light them up soon like in the olden times.

The Cascade is near the eastern edge of the Land of PG & E pole gnomes, in the shade maybe with a landscape that the smaller fellows would appreciate. Perhaps this is where they came from.
The history brings a sad shake of the head then a smile — the construction, abandonment, the rising from the dead. Stone Lazarus.
That the Cascade is back in a reinvented version of its historic splendor owing to the hands and hearts of volunteers again gives testimony to what it will take to make this city great once again. Greatness floweth not from City Hall, my friends. Greatness will come from you.
United Nations all running up and down the stairs last weekend, perspiration and ass on fire knows no demographic boundary. Lovely views over the lake.
Two laps around the lake and five trips up and down the stairs and baby you’ll know you did yourself something. I think I notched my belt a little tighter this morning, thanks to the sweet Cascade.