Iron Horse Trail - 9/11/2011

On Donnas' 56th birthday, she rode nearly 21 miles on the Iron Horse Trail. Go You!

This multi-use, whole-access trail between the cities of Concord and Dublin follows the Southern Pacific Railroad right-of-way established in 1891 and abandoned in 1977. The completed Iron Horse Regional Trail will span the distance from Livermore in Alameda County to Suisun Bay in Contra Costa County, a distance of 33 miles, connecting two counties and 12 cities. Representing interagency cooperation and a community-wide effort by individuals and groups, this trail creates an important recreational and commute component for the communities it serves. The 20-foot-wide trail connects residential and commercial areas, business parks, schools, public transportation (BART, County Connection), open space and parks, regional trails, and community facilities.

The developed portion of the Iron Horse Trail begins in Concord near Highway 4. It runs south through Walnut Creek and crosses eastward under I-680 at Rudgear Road near a Park & Ride. From there the trail passes through a rural/residential area to connect with downtown Alamo and the Alamo Square shopping center. Continuing south, the trail follows a greenbelt through residential areas and into downtown Danville. It takes a jog across Danville Boulevard, passes back under I-680, and continues south past Pine Valley Road to the county line in San Ramon extending to the Dublin/Pleasanton BART. The completed Iron Horse Regional Trail will span the distance from Livermore in Alameda County to Suisun Bay in Contra Costa County a distance of over 55 miles connecting two counties and nine communities. The trail corridor connects residential and commercial areas, business parks, schools, public transportation, regional trails and community facilities. Throughout its entire length, opportunities to view the valley ridgeline and landscape features like Mt. Diablo create a pleasant trail experience.

 

Sawyer Camp Trail - 9/6/2011

Sawyer Camp Trail is one of the most popular recreation paths in the Bay Area. On any given day you are prone to encounter roller bladers, cyclists, moms with strollers, joggers, and folks looking for easy exercise. The 6 mile paved trail stretches from the shores of Crystal Springs Reservoir to San Andreas Lake, through protected San Francisco Watershed lands. Sawyer Camp is as close as most of us will ever get to the off-limits watershed property, which is a shame, since it looks pretty from this fenced-off trail.
    

    Markers every half mile make it easy to track your progress as you travel Sawyer Camp Trail. Seasoned hikers will probably prefer one of the other dirt trails in nearby county parks, as walking on this paved trail definitely is not a wilderness experience. But for wheelchairs users and parents with young kids, Sawyer Camp Trail is a good choice for a gentle outdoor outing. It's also a great location to learn (or relearn) to ride a bicycle -- the southern part of the trail is almost perfectly flat, while the northern section has a slight grade.

Benches sit along the sides of the trail in several spots, allowing for rest or lunch breaks. The trail winds through open areas, with toyon, coyote brush, and poison oak common, as well as more shaded stretches where coast live oak and California bay dominate the landscape. Shade is sporadic so bring a hat on a sunny day. You may see (or hear) ducks and other waterbirds, deer, rabbits, and raptors. Sawyer Camp occasionally drifts inland, away from the water for short stretches, but then returns to offer fabulous views across the reservoir to the off-limits western hills. In autumn if you stand quietly along wooded sections of the trail you may see small birds feeding on honeysuckle and poison oak berries, as well as acorns. 

Once past the northern edge of Crystal Springs Reservoir, Sawyer Camp Trail enters an area where coast live oak and California bay mix through Monterey pine, madrone, cypress, and a few buckeye. Willow and dogwood mark seasonal creeks on the left. At the 3 mile mark, a gated and locked service road crosses Sawyer Camp Trail. You may spot coyote scat here, as Canis latrans are fond of marking their territory at crossroads. Dogwood, ash, cottonwood, and poison oak make a dramatic and gorgeous fall statement as Sawyer Camp Trail continues north, putting forth bright leaves of gold and red in early November. At 3.50 miles you'll reach the Jepson Laurel area.
  
      Pass the portable toilets and veer left on a narrow path a few feet, where a plaque heralds the massive bay (there are better views from the edge of the picnic area, to the right). This is the largest California bay tree in the state, and is believed to be over 600 years old. Retrace your steps when you're ready to return to the trailhead.

        -Bay Area Hiker-

S. F. Bay Trail in Hayward Regional Park - 9/6/2001

The Hayward Regional Shoreline covers 817 acres along the bayshore between Hwy 92 and San Lorenzo Creek. It consists of sloughs, marshes, mud flats, rocky shoreline, and former landfills. In 1854, John Johnson built levees here in the salt marshes to create the first commercial
salt production ponds on San Francisco Bay. In those days, salt was used for food preservation and silver mining. The ponds are no longer used for salt production and have mostly been restored to marshland. Landings were built on the shoreline in the 1850's to transport passengers, salt, and farm products to San Francisco. The Bay Trail runs mostly along the Bay here on dirt levees originally built for salt ponds and across newly-built bridges.

The Hayward Shoreline is a great place for seeing how the tides affect the Bay and the inland marshes. The bayshore changes radically, from wide mudflats at low tide, to wave-washed rocky and terraced shores at high tide. On the many bridges in this area, you can watch the tide waters rush in and out to feed and drain the sloughs, creeks, and marshes. At low tide, the marshes are mudflats, covered with scurrying birds probing in the mud for food. At high tide, the marshes are flooded, with birds lazily floating on the surface, wading the shallows, or diving underwater for a meal.

We started at the Grant Ave. (North End)

Coyote Hills Bike Trail 8/15/2011

Coyote Hills Regional Park   The Coyote Hills look like a small group of mountain peaks that got lost on their way to join the Diablo Range. The hills seem to pop straight up out of the Bay, surrounded as they are by flat expanses of water and marshland. Actually, they are remnants of an ancient mountain range. At one time, they were islands, but the channel to the east of the hills gradually filled in and became marshland.

Coyote Hills Regional Park, which encompasses most of the Coyote Hills, is at the northwest corner of Fremont, south of Hayward and Union City and north of Newark, right at the edge of San Francisco Bay. It is just north of Hwy 84 leading to the Dumbarton Bridge. The park, part of the East
Bay Regional Park District, consists of 976 acres of rolling rocky
hills, meadows, freshwater marshes, salt ponds, and Indian shell mounds
and village sites. It got its name in the 1880's for the coyotes that howled
when they heard the whistles from the trains that ran by here. You won't
find many coyotes here anymore, but there's still a tremendous variety
of birds and plants to be found among the hills, meadows, and wetlands. Alameda Creek runs along its northern boundary, flowing into San Francisco Bay. The Alameda Creek Regional Trail follows along the creek banks east to the historic town of Niles. Trails lead south from
Coyote Hills to the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, which also has trails throug
the hills and along levees near the Bay. The combined network of trails

makes for many miles of bike riding and hiking along mostly flat (if not
always paved) paths, away from automobile traffic. If you like hill-climbing
with a mountain bike, there are some challenging hill trails here too.

The guided photo tour below runs from the southern end of the park at
the Quarry Trail entrance, crosses Hwy 84, follows the unpaved Apay Way
Trail to the paved Bayview Trail, and then to the paved Alameda Creek Trail
to San Francisco Bay.

The official Bay Trail route runs along the Apay Way Trail to the Baylands
Trail and on both sides of Alameda Creek from Union City Blvd./Ardenwood
Blvd. to San Francisco Bay. The
Dumbarton Bridge and Marshlands Road are Bay Trail routes from the
West, which lead to the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife headquarters
in Newark. East of Coyote Hills, along Ardenwood Blvd. is Ardenwood
Regional Preserve, an historic farm. Together these parks and trails
make this area one of the jewels of the Bay Trail. Unfortunately, it is
an isolated jewel. So far, there are no completed Bay Trails segments along
the Bay or any body of water for several miles north of Alameda Creek or
south of the refuge headquarters..

From San Francisco Bay Trails

This is one of our favorite places, it's so lush and beautiful. Donna loves
to bird watch in this park, there are so many varieties to look for.

American River Bike Trail - 9/9/2001

After picking up trikes from in Dixon, CA. We went to the American River Bike Trail.

"The American River Bike Trail near Sacramento, California is a 32 mile paved bike trail along the banks of the American River. The trail connects Old Sacramento and Folsom Lake. The trail was previously called the Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail. The trail is well marked and equipped with mile markers, trail maps, water stops, restrooms and telephones.

The trail is very popular with bicyclists, runners and walkers with over 5 million users each year. The trail is well shaded for much of the ride and is relatively flat is except for the section from Hazel to Beals Point. Other highlights of the trail include Discovery Park, the Nimbus Fish Hatchery on Hazel Avenue in Rancho Cordova, the Folsom Zoo Sanctuary in Folson City Park and the annual Eppie's Great Race Triathlon. The trail follows the American River Parkway."
From Rails to Trails -http://railstotrails.us/ca-american-river-bike-trail.html

Half Moon Bay Coastside Trail - 9/9/2011

"Half Moon Bay State Park's Coastside Trail runs parallel to the Pacific Coast along what used to bethe Ocean Shore Railroad. The railroad itself was in operation for just14 years before it was driven out of business in the early 1920s by theautomobile. However, the railroad had a tremendous impact on the Northern California coastline. It opened the area to agriculture,
created new communities along the shoreline, and made the coastal
beaches prime tourist destinations.

The Coastside Trail is truly a destination trail. It offers users sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean, access to several beaches, and excellent nature viewing. Bird watching is quite good and a popular activity here. Red-tailed hawks, blue herons and red-winged blackbirds are spotted frequently, and large hawks can
often be seen perched on benches and the trail's split-rail fence. Half
Moon Bay State Beach is also home of the world-famous Mavericks, a
surfing spot near Pillar Point that's visible from the trail. In winter,
surfers can ride waves up to 80 feet high here.

You can park at the Half Moon Bay State Beach Visitor Center for a $6 day-use fee and pick up the trail here. Heading north you follow the paved trail for about 2 miles in total. On your left is the coastline, and on your right, the
equestrian trail. Beyond this trail are views of gorgeous beachfront
properties. A mile into your walk, you reach another parking lot with


access to Venice Beach. The rail-trail continues for about another mile from this point, then merges into Mirada Road. If you continue walking on Mirada Road for a few minutes, you will end up at the Miramar Beach Restaurant, a bar and restaurant that overlooks the ocean. This is a great place to watch the sunset-the Miramar even posts a daily sunset schedule on its website.

Heading south from the visitor center, the Pacific Ocean is on your right and the equestrian trail on your left. Beyond this horse trail are open, green fields. The trail hugs the bluff's edge here. As you head south you see a landscape of
wind-sculpted trees. It is typically windy along the bluff, so be sure
to bring a jacket for this leg of the trail. The rail-trail officially ends about 1 mile in, and the surface changes to dirt. However, you can continue walking south along the cliff's edge, as there is still a path to follow. This path, which the Coastside Trail is also a part of, is a segment of the much longer California Coastal Trail. The Coastal Trail is currently about halfway completed and will eventually run along the entire coast of California." From TrailLink.com"



I only rode about 3.3 miles of it. Donna rode the whole thing. the map and video are of her ride.