Only a few towns in the world have enough character to elect a dog as their mayor. Sunol is one of these towns.

In the midst of the vast urban sprawl that has consumed the San Francisco Bay Area for the past few decades, Sunol stands out in stark contrast to everything around it. While most of the East Bay in the summer is hot and lacking shade, Sunol sits nestled in the hills, hiding from the heat under oak trees and finding comfort next to the Kilkare and Alameda Creeks.

While most new houses in the Bay Area are becoming larger and properties are getting smaller, Sunol has remains loyal to its old ideal of the small homestead on a plot of fertile land. Furthermore, while “serious” issues have consumed the rest of the Bay Area, the people of Sunol mustered up enough humor and anti-establishment sentiment to elect Bosco, a local dog, as their mayor.

Sunol is a town that is very close to my childhood hometown of Fremont, yet in many ways it is also far away. Although the drive to Sunol from Fremont may take only 10 minutes, most who pass by it will never even know it’s there. The only clue Sunol gives to the outside world of its existence is a small faded green sign off Interstate Highway 680. Drivers enticed by this sign would be confronted with two uninteresting small roads; one leading to Sunol Regional Park, the other to the town of Sunol. At this point most people lacking an adventuresome spirit would give up and get back on the freeway.

This summer, while lingering in the idle boredom that inevitably comes as one waits for college classes to resume, I decided to explore this unfamiliar place with my girlfriend, Lindsay. On a particularly hot day we drove into the downtown area looking for something to do. Ten minutes before, houses, buildings and stores had surrounded us. The sound of people had been everywhere; cruisers driving by in their cars and blaring music, homeowners mowing their lawns, loud conversations seeping out of houses. Yet now, just 10 minutes away, there was an eerie but relaxing silence.

Exploration of the town was simple, as it was limited to the few buildings that make up Sunol. While most of the Bay Area has become home to an increasingly dense population, Sunol has only 1,300 residents spread out over 32 square miles. That makes for a population density of less than 40 people per square mile. Furthermore, while buildings new enough for their age to be counted on a single hand characterize the area surrounding this little town, most of the buildings of Sunol outdate their inhabitants.

To escape the mid-afternoon heat we went into Bosco’s, the local bar and deli re-named after the town’s furry mayor. The place was dimly lit and nearly empty, but its history could be felt. The faint, musty smell and dark worn wood gave away the secrets of its age. A century ago, this place served to wine and dine the San Francisco elite. Looking to find salvation from the omnipresent peninsular fog, those of wealth from San Francisco had discovered Sunol and transformed it into a vacation retreat. After a short train ride down the peninsula and through San Jose, those with enough money could rent cabins here and go swimming in Alameda Creek, the largest stream in Alameda County. Now, 100 years later, Bosco’s still served as the main watering hole and diner in Sunol, but instead of serving the rich, it serves some of the Bay Area’s few remaining farmers, as well as the occasional visitors to the town. After splitting a sandwich and a beer, Lindsay and I decided to brave the heat and go for a hike in the regional park.

The parklands of Sunol are some of the most beautiful in the state. Not only has it not been spoiled from the presence of too many people, as is the case for other places like its neighbor to the north Del Valle Regional Park, but it also has a long history of uninterrupted conservation.

Five thousand years ago, the Ohlone Indians settled this area and lived in a harmonious and symbiotic relationship with the land. The land was rich with acorns, deer and elk, and the water overflowed with fish. Gathering food along the Kilkare and Alameda Creeks in Sunol was a menial chore that took only a few hours of the early Ohlones’ time each week. In turn, for the nearly five thousand years they lived there, the Ohlone managed the land with a skill and craft that has yet to be matched anywhere else in the United States. This land is now owned by the San Francisco Water District and Alameda County. Both have taken significant steps to ensure its protection and preservation.

Upon arriving in the park, Lindsay and I set out for Little Yosemite Canyon. This canyon was cut by Alameda Creek and is one of the park’s main attractions. The heat ensured that we would have the place to ourselves. As we walked, we could hear the local magpies fighting with and squawking at each other, the creek rushing beside us, and the ground squirrels rattling the brush as they went scurrying for shelter. Most impressively, though, we couldn’t hear a single person. It was almost impossible to imagine that the second-most populated region in America’s most populated state lay hidden just 10 minutes away.

After a half hour of hiking we arrived at Little Yosemite. The canyon was an impressive sight. In the midst of rolling hills with little exposed rock, this place made us wonder if we hadn’t walked through some sort of portal into another land. As we rounded the last corner of the trail, we suddenly found ourselves facing a series of huge, steep rock walls. The dryness that had once surrounded us vanished and was replaced with large tree-covered hills, the faces of which had been cut off by the stream. The sun that had previously assaulted us had all but vanished behind these oddly placed monsters. Light trickled in just enough to give the exposed rocks the dimness they needed to exude their ethereal beauty. Together we sat there for a moment, soaking in all that was around us, and then we did what any hot and sweaty college couple would do. We jumped in the water.

Relatively untouched by the hand of man, and far from any irrigated croplands, the water was fantastic. Warmed by the sun upstream, and cooled as it collected in the canyon’s shaded pools, the creek’s water was the perfect temperature. Together Lindsay and I swam, splashed and played for about an hour. Although the water lever was never above our heads, and thus made diving impossible, it was one of the most gratifying swims I’ve ever had. Once we were done we climbed one of the smaller rock walls to find sun, lie down and dry off. A short while later we were back on the trail heading for home.

After we left the park, we stopped at one more interesting site. In the distance we saw a Greek dome supported by large white pillars. For a country obsessed with Greek architecture this wasn’t too odd, but the fact that it was in the middle of a strawberry field was. With the sun beginning to set over it, the dome was too great a sight to pass up. Upon approaching it, we quickly realized that it was one more of those strange things that made Sunol such a unique place. The words “Water Temple” were boldly engraved in a Roman-style font across the front of the dome, and through its pillars there was a hole that looked down to an underground river.

I later learned this Water Temple was a shrine to one of California’s most precious resources. Before the completion of California’s great water projects, water was the God and governor of the people. It was just as precious as the gold that brought in the early settlers, and its availability defined every aspect of early California. It was a thing to be respected; it was a thing to be worshiped. It was for that reason that this great Water Temple was constructed. In 1906 after William Bourn, owner of the Spring Valley Water Company, acquired the water rights to Alameda Creek, he hired San Franciscan architect Willis Polk to design the temple in honor of “the meeting of the waters.” Later, after the 1906 earthquake and San Francisco’s subsequent efforts to acquire as much water as possible, this monument helped Bourn persuade the voters of San Francisco to buy his company.