The park is also home to many animals and birds, such as turkey vultures, black-tailed deer, cougars, coyotes, squirrels, and redtailed hawks.

[2] Cattle, sheep, and goat ranchers still use portions of the park for grazing purposes[3] and hold a one hundred-year lease that is effective until the 2060s.

The area which includes present day Briones Park and the Russell Reservation were part of the 1842 Mexican land grant of Rancho Boca de la Canada del Pinole granted to the widow of Felipe Briones.

In 1909, the Peoples' Water Company, the precursor to the East Bay Municipal Utility District purchased the land for watershed protection.

Since 1966 the University of California has maintained a 283-acre (1.15 km2) parcel of land in the Briones Hills, known as the Russell Reservation, as a research center.