On a walk in North Oakland in connection with my hobby, I was delighted to see another example of a homemade decorative driveway. This is just the beginning of it:
Whoever built it had access to big chunks of waste glass as well as a variety of rocks from near and far. One of those, the green one in the lower right, is a fine specimen of actinolite schist:
To my knowledge, you won’t find such a thing in Oakland. I got my first hand specimen of actinolite from that rock shop on 101 next to Squaw Rock on the Russian River, south of Hopland. I asked the owner, as I often do, “What do you have that’s local?” and he handed me that one. The boulder in this driveway looks just the same.
Oakland Geology 
30 November 2009 at 10:26 am
I see some of the little chalcedony nodules from the Sibley Quarry in there! And the Actinolite was probably from Wildcat Creek or Ring Mountain.
9 December 2009 at 11:29 am
I’ve dug up a number of rocks in my garden in Upper Rockridge (north end of Estates Dr) which has the color of serpentine and made up of brittle crystalline fibers, quite sparkly in the light. The picture of the actinolite in the driveway is the closest picture to my rock I’ve seen. Where is the driveway so I can check it out? If my rock is actinolite, then the rock in the driveway could be local as mine is.
10 December 2009 at 11:37 am
That’s cool! I’ll have to poke around up there. Your area is mapped as Franciscan melange, which means it’s a smorgasbord of different things all mixed up together. Did you follow the last link in my post? Here’s another example, and here and here.
10 December 2009 at 9:48 pm
There sure is a melange of rocks here. The bedrock is exposed in our garden and a few small actinolite rocks like in your picture have been found, along with a crumbly hard beige rock with occasional vein/pieces of a white quartz. If you are interested in poking around let me know.
12 December 2009 at 2:44 pm
I wonder if there are actinolite rocks in northern El Cerrito – Richmond hills ?? There are several very high-grade (almost eclogite) outcrops up near the crest of the hills, near the Arlington. That area is also mapped as melange and serpentine, I think.
12 December 2009 at 8:42 pm
I think that’s what Sheldon was talking about, in Wildcat Canyon. I’m glad to hear that such rocks exist near here and not just up in Sonoma and Mendocino counties.
14 December 2009 at 9:42 am
Yes, there’s quite a bit to find in Wildcat Canyon, although it’s pretty overgrown.
18 March 2010 at 5:17 pm
I found a nice example of actinolite rock in the Tiwalik Loop Trail in Joaquin Miller Park earlier this week, so I have proof of concept that the rock in this post is local.
25 February 2011 at 8:22 am
What an awesome idea for a drive way!
9 March 2014 at 2:38 pm
You have inspired me in my own concrete work. Thanks! :)