Explore the best rated trails in Half Moon Bay, CA. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Lincoln Hill Pathway and NWP Railroad Trail. With more than 95 trails covering 700 miles you’re bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
The Centennial Trail is located in the Tri-Valley city of Pleasanton, about 25 miles east of Oakland. This urban trail offers a 7.8 roundtrip on a combination of paved and unpaved track. The trail...
The Great Meadow Bike Path provides an important 1.5-mile transportation route from the main entrance of the University of California at Santa Cruz to the busy campus core. The trail is surrounded by...
The Evergreen Creek Trail follows its namesake creek between San Felipe Road and Yerba Buena Road. To the north of the gravel trail is suburbia (with a row of trees separating the trail from the...
Naomi Patridge Trail is a 2 mile coastal trail paralleling Highway 1 in Half Moon Bay, California. The trail was named for a longtime San Mateo Councilwoman, prominent volunteer and lifelong Half Moon...
If you're looking for a gentle rail-trail in Marin County that offers stunning views of both San Francisco Bay and Mt. Tamalpais, the Tiburon Historical Trail is for you. Known alternately as the...
The Stanford Perimeter Trail is a multiuse path ideal for walkers, joggers and cyclists. The construction of the trail was paid for by Stanford University, and it is used by both campus residents and...
The Redwood Highway/San Clemente Drive Paths combine to parallel their connecting roadways on the edge of Corte Madera. The combined trail is more scenic than your average sidepath: to the east, views...
The Corte Madera Creek Path is open in two disconnected segments that can be linked via a bike ride on low-stress S. Eliseo Drive or a walk or run on its sidewalk. Both sections closely follow the...
Beginning in 1904, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF) carried freight through the city of Richmond, reaching its height during World War II when Richmond became a national leader of...
The Baine Avenue Trail is a short rail-with-trail along an active Union Pacific Railroad corridor in the heart of Newark. The unpaved trail is most useful as a neighborhood connector or short...
A half mile of the East Bay Greenway is currently open from the Coliseum BART Station (at 75th Avenue) to 85th Avenue in Oakland. The paved trail parallels San Leandro Street with traffic signals and...
The San Francisco Bay Trail is a colossal effort to create a 500-mile multiuse trail encircling its namesake bay. Along its course, the trail will link 47 cities through 9 counties, providing numerous...
The Arroyo Mocho Trail is a part of a network of multi-use trails in Livermore and which also links with the city of Pleasanton. The trail provides access to neighborhoods, schools, numerous parks,...
The trail through the Cal Park Hill Tunnel offers a quick, smooth ride through the hill that separates San Rafael from the ferry terminal in Larkspur and southern Marin County. As part of the 70-mile...
The Embarcadero Bike Path is an important connector between the local commuter rail, schools, and a commercial area on Palo Alto's west side and the outskirts of Stanford University. The paved...
The Three Creeks Trail will one day span 3 miles through San Jose's Willow Glen neighborhood. In 2018, the western leg of the trail opened, stretching nearly a mile from Coe Avenue to just south of...
The Baquiano Trail is one trail of many in beautiful Sweeney Ridge, a prime bicycling and hiking area in San Mateo County. The trail climbs 550 feet from a junction with two hiking trails in the west...
This 4.5-mile paved trail encircles Lake Merced in southwestern San Francisco. The western leg of the loop is also referred to as the Lake Merced Measured Mile and is part of a larger, regional effort...
This segment of the California Coastal Trail (also known as the Half Moon Bay State Park's Coastside Trail) runs parallel to the Pacific Coast along what used to be the Ocean Shore Railroad. The...
The Bon Air Road Sidepath, as its name suggests, closely follows Bon Air Road in scenic Larkspur and Kentfield. The main trail begins at a junction with the Creekside Loop at Magnolia Avenue and runs...
The Arroyo Mocho Trail is a part of a network of multi-use trails in Livermore and which also links with the city of Pleasanton. The trail provides access to neighborhoods, schools, numerous parks,...
The Sandra Marker Trail runs for a mile on an east-west course through Larkspur, linking the Redwood Highway/San Clemente Drive Paths in the east with the popular NWP Railroad Trail in the west. Both...
The Alameda Creek Regional Trail runs from the mouth of Niles Canyon in Fremont to the San Francisco Bay, allowing recreational access to the levees on both sides of Alameda Creek and its flood...
For years, only one of the four bridges across San Francisco Bay, Dumbarton Bridge, accommodated bikes and pedestrians. Now Bay residents can celebrate the opening of another cross-bay connection,...
Marsh Creek Trail follows the sinuous course of Marsh Creek through the outskirts of suburbia and among the rich farmland of Contra Costa County. The 8.5-mile paved extends between Concord Road in...
It is difficult to travel through suburban Santa Clara County for more than a few minutes without noticing an abundance of cyclists and runners in the area. If you are strolling to downtown Los Gatos,...
The Montgomery Hill Trail is a short dirt trail traversing Montgomery Hill Park, an undeveloped green space in San Jose. The trail offers nice views of the surrounding area and links Yerba Buena Creek...
This extremely scenic rail-trail is located in the majestic Forest of Nisene Marks State Park near Aptos, California. The park was the site of major logging operations by the Loma Prieta Lumber...
The Alamo Creek Bike Path snakes alongside its namesake stream through residential Dublin, Alameda County. The paved trail has spurs reaching into the nearby subdivisions, drawing residents onto the...
For most of its length, the scenic Coyote Creek Trail meanders along its namesake creek south of the city of San Jose. South of Metcalf Road, an equestrian trail parallels the paved trail. A smaller...
The Penitencia Creek Trail follows its namesake creek through a suburban greenbelt in northeast San José. On the northeastern end, the trail passes by a series of percolation ponds, and you can take a...
The Redwood Highway/San Clemente Drive Paths combine to parallel their connecting roadways on the edge of Corte Madera. The combined trail is more scenic than your average sidepath: to the east, views...
The West Cliff Drive Bicycle Path is just over 3 miles long, but, with its gorgeous backdrop of ocean waves and dramatic cliffs, you'll wish it was longer. The fairly flat, paved trail winds its way...
This segment of the California Coastal Trail (also known as the Half Moon Bay State Park's Coastside Trail) runs parallel to the Pacific Coast along what used to be the Ocean Shore Railroad. The...
The San Francisco Bay area's Charles F. McGlashan Pathway was once known as the Tennessee Valley Pathway, but was renamed to honor a former Marin County Supervisor and a passionate active...
Oakland's Lake Merritt Trail closely follows the lake's shoreline for a pleasant, paved trip with beautiful views and connections to several parks and attractions right in the heart of the city. The...
Tucked in the quiet Oakland hills neighborhood of Montclair, the Shepherd Canyon Trail (a.k.a. Montclair Railroad Trail) is a popular community rail-trail that has come to symbolize the power of...
The Los Alamitos Creek Trail runs along its namesake creek between McKean Road and Almaden Lake Park, where the trail is also known as the Lake Almaden Trail. From its southern endpoint to Camden...
The Santa Cruz Riverwalk Trail follows both sides of the river through downtown Santa Cruz, a California beach town on the shores of Monterey Bay. Multiple pedestrian bridges allow easy access to the...
Nestled between Alum Rock Canyon and the Mt. Diablo foothills, Alum Rock Park west of San Jose is California's oldest city park. From the early to mid-1900s it was a popular resort and spa, complete...
The Sweeney Ridge Trail is one trail of many in beautiful Sweeney Ridge, a prime bicycling and hiking area in San Mateo County. Inaccessible by automobile, the trail must be reached by any of its...
Saratoga Creek Trail follows the winding course of the creek between just south of I-280 (Junipero Serra Freeway) and Saratoga Creek Park. The trail parallels the Lawrence Expressway/County Route G2...
The West Cliff Drive Bicycle Path is just over 3 miles long, but, with its gorgeous backdrop of ocean waves and dramatic cliffs, you'll wish it was longer. The fairly flat, paved trail winds its way...
The trail through the Cal Park Hill Tunnel offers a quick, smooth ride through the hill that separates San Rafael from the ferry terminal in Larkspur and southern Marin County. As part of the 70-mile...
This segment of the California Coastal Trail (also known as the Half Moon Bay State Park's Coastside Trail) runs parallel to the Pacific Coast along what used to be the Ocean Shore Railroad. The...
The San Lorenzo River Parkway Trestle Trail is the first completed segment of the Coastal Rail Trail, which will eventually run 32 miles from Davenport to Watsonville. The segment from Santa Cruz to...
Riding high on the cliffs at North America's western edge, this San Francisco-area trail offers unbeatable views of Golden Gate Bridge and the Pacific Ocean at San Francisco Bay. Add to that a chance...
The Calero Creek Trail runs between Singer Park and Santa Teresa County Park. The trail is paved between Los Alamitos Creek and Harry Road (0.7 mile) and has a gravel surface between Harry Road and...
The Sabercat Creek Trail can be found along its tree-lined namesake waterway in the Mission San Jose community of Fremont, a coastal California city off the San Francisco Bay. The 2-mile paved pathway...
The bulk of the High Canal Bridge Pathway runs alongside its namesake waterway, offering scenic views and a sense of serenity in the middle of the ritzy Marin County communities of Larkspur and Corte...
The Napa Valley Vine Trail is a work in progress to connect Calistoga to the Vallejo ferry terminal, a distance of 47 miles. The trail will roughly parallel State Route 29, a popular wine route and...
The Isabel Avenue Trail runs north-south on the western boundary of Livermore in the eastern San Francisco Bay area's Tri-Valley region. As its name suggests, the path primarily serves neighborhoods...
This 4.5-mile paved trail encircles Lake Merced in southwestern San Francisco. The western leg of the loop is also referred to as the Lake Merced Measured Mile and is part of a larger, regional effort...
The Miller Creek Trail is a short paved path that runs on the former alignment of Lucas Valley Road. The trail follows both its namesake creek and the newer alignment of Lucas Valley Road on the...
The Montgomery Hill Trail is a short dirt trail traversing Montgomery Hill Park, an undeveloped green space in San Jose. The trail offers nice views of the surrounding area and links Yerba Buena Creek...
As its name suggests, the Alamo Canal Trail can be found adjacent to the man-made waterway located in Dublin, in the Tri-Valley region of the Bay Area. Though short, this trail makes useful...
Joe's Trail at Saratoga de Anza parallels the south side of the active Union Pacific Railroad tracks that travel through a residential area of Saratoga, a California community just south of the San...
The Baquiano Trail is one trail of many in beautiful Sweeney Ridge, a prime bicycling and hiking area in San Mateo County. The trail climbs 550 feet from a junction with two hiking trails in the west...
The Stevens Creek Trail is open in two disconnected segments in Mountain View and Cupertino, two of Silicon Valley's growing communities. As its name suggests, both segments closely follow Stevens...
The Bol Park Path is a charmer that threads through a peaceful Palo Alto neighborhood in the hills south of San Francisco. At its heart is Bol Park, a strip of playground and lawn laid alongside...
Took the Ferry to Larkspur and biked over the Bridge today to Point Richmond. Well maintained bike path, incline a bit challenging, so walked the bike for about one mile, I’m a novice and 67. Windy but views are worth it!
Riders and walkers be on ALERT!!!! Encountered two rattlesnakes on the trail but love all 44 miles of the trail. Great trail to disconnect from the urban concrete streets of San Jose. Oh yeah, nature at its BEST!!
If you start from Oakleys Big Break until the End in Brentwood it’s about a 20 mile RT. Safe, nice sites.
Good for walking & jogging but too busy for bicycles, skateboards, scooters. The street along side has a lot of traffic without a bike path so not very biker friendly. It's popular with pedestrians & dogs strolling along probably because there's an entrance to a dog friendly beach along the route. A lot of the route is along the top of a bluff with beach below so it gets very windy and can be cold if not sunny. Beaches are narrow & rocky and more for surfing. The path is nicely paved making it easy to walk.
Being on this trail is a lovely escape from the city streetscape. In the works now is County action to close the cement plant at the end of the RR spur this trail adjoins. When that happens, there is a County adopted plan for the trail to extend all the way from Los Gatos to Rancho San Antonio Open Space!
This trail is a good length for a stroll. It is hilly and scenic. It is in a valley. The trail is asphalt with cracks sealed with tar. Except for the east end, which is concrete and very wide. I don’t recommend it for skating because it is rough and short. Also the hill at the west end near the bathrooms/parking is very steep.
I started on the north side, this is a nice walk with small children. After crossing the first road to the south there is a park on the right, pretty good for children.
In July, 2021, trail was extended south 1/3 mile to Linda Vista Park in Cupertino.
This path is very family/kid friendly (flat, playground...bonus playground a mile out...donkeys you can pet, but there are no public restrooms nearby! Would be a four star rating if there was a bathroom.
We went on this trail yesterday and really liked it! There’s a little bit of up and down, but an ambitious 9 year old and a reluctant 12 year old did it on bikes with gears. Do not park at the southern most lot, though as the path is closed a mile after starting due to a bridge being under construction. Start at the second lot going north at St. Mary’s and Moraga.
My wife and I rode the Napa Valley Vine Trail while staying at the Napa Valley Marriott Hotel & Spa near the intersection of State Route 29 and Redwood Road in Napa. We rode north 5.5 miles before turning around and heading back to the hotel. The trail was flat, paved and in good condition and only lightly traveled. If we had gone another half mile north, we would have reached the point where the Trail crosses underneath State Route 29 to the east side. From there it proceeds another 2 miles north before it ends at Madison Road in Yountville. When it ends you can proceed east on Madison in a bike lane. Overall, the continuous section of the trail from the north side of Napa to the south side of Yountville is about eight miles. Only gave the Trail four stars because in the first mile or two proceeding north from Napa there are three busy intersections that require you to wait for the crossing signal that may require 30-60 seconds each.
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