Explore the best rated trails in San Jose, CA. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Alameda Creek Regional Trail and Alamo Canal Trail. With more than 88 trails covering 696 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 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...
About 35 miles south of San Francisco, the Cowell-Purisima Trail offers a beautiful escape into nature which can be enjoyed by both walkers and bicyclists. Travelers in wheelchairs can also access the...
Winding along the Pacific coast, the Monterey Bay Coastal Recreation Trail offers breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean and a great way to tour Monterey and adjacent communities while enjoying the...
The Manteca Tidewater Bikeway is a multiuse trail running north to south through the city of Manteca, California. The flat, asphalt corridor is up to 100 feet wide in places and is popular with...
The Mill Valley/Sausalito Multiuse Pathway is a convenient connection between neighborhoods, schools, shopping, restaurants, and both a skate and dog park. The short dirt section at the north end is...
The Lafayette-Moraga Regional Trail links its two namesake communities via a former logging railroad corridor that largely parallels St. Mary's Road. Uniquely, mules hauled lumber on the corridor...
The Cross Alameda Trail is a four-mile developing trail that will someday stretch from one end of Alameda island to the other, from the Seaplane Lagoon Ferry Terminal in the west to Fruitvale Bridge...
The Quarry Lakes Regional Recreation Area provides users with a wide variety of recreational activities. In addition to its several miles of biking, walking and equestrian paths, the park also...
The Aquatic Park Trail travels along a hairpin-shaped route through Aquatic Park and around a small lake narrowly separated from the San Francisco Bay. The trail runs parallel to, and across...
The Highway 237 Bikeway parallels State Route 237 between McCarthy Boulevard in Milpitas and Calabazas Creek in Sunnyvale. The trail consists of two main segments: the first is between McCarthy...
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...
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...
Nimitz Way links Tilden Regional Park and Wildcat Canyon Regional Park via the ridge between Wildcat Creek and the San Pablo Reservoir on the northern outskirts of Berkeley. The paved 4-mile trail...
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 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...
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...
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 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...
The Great Highway Bike Path parallels its namesake road on the western edge of San Francisco, offering stunning views of the Pacific Ocean throughout. The trail provides direct access to the San...
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 Yerba Buena Creek Trail follows its namesake creek through Evergreen Park behind the community center, paralleling Yerba Buena Road and Park Estates Way.
Named for the Ohlone Indians who once lived in the area, this trail doubles as a commuting corridor and a recreation destination for the cities of Berkeley, Albany and El Cerrito. While the Ohlone...
About 35 miles south of San Francisco, the Cowell-Purisima Trail offers a beautiful escape into nature which can be enjoyed by both walkers and bicyclists. Travelers in wheelchairs can also access the...
The French Camp Slough Trail, also known as the San Joaquin River Trail, parallels both waterways on levees in the southern reaches of Stockton. Near its midpoint, the trail connects to the Pacific...
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 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...
The Lafayette-Moraga Regional Trail links its two namesake communities via a former logging railroad corridor that largely parallels St. Mary's Road. Uniquely, mules hauled lumber on the corridor...
The Highway 237 Bikeway parallels State Route 237 between McCarthy Boulevard in Milpitas and Calabazas Creek in Sunnyvale. The trail consists of two main segments: the first is between McCarthy...
The Mokelumne Trail begins at a shopping center near the intersection of Buchanan Rd. and Somersville Rd in Antioch, California. A section of the Delta de Anza Regional Trail starts on the other side...
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 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 Beach Range Road Multi-Use Trail runs parallel to State Route 1 along the Pacific Coast, offering a safe alternative for commuters in Sand City, Seaside and Marina, and for students attending...
The Black Diamond Railroad Trail is within the Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve, a splendid place to visit with a fascinating and unique history. From the 1850s to the early 1900s, the region was...
The Southern Pacific Railroad Right-of-Way passes through residential neighborhoods on the west side of Pacific Grove, providing a nice walking and biking spot for residents and visiting tourists to...
The Ygnacio Canal Trail begins at a junction with the Contra Costa Canal Trail. Most of the trail runs along the Ygnacio Canal, a narrow irrigation channel where ducks live. The trail is paved, except...
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 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...
The Contra Costa Canal Trail forms a horseshoe shape route, traversing through the urban and neighborhood landscape of Martinez, Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek and Concord. The trail follows the canal of...
The area surrounding the Iron Horse Regional Trail has an important history as part of the San Ramon Valley's agricultural and ranching past. Today, the Iron Horse Trail connects two counties and...
The Highway 87 Bikeway follows State Route 87 between Willow Street in the north and Santa Teresa Boulevard at W. Valley Freeway (SR 85) in the south. Basically, the trail forms the missing link...
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 Barberry Walkway runs parallel to Barberry Lane between Corda Drive near Meadowfair Park and Dina Lane. There are plans to extend the walkway along the outskirts of the park to Quimby Road.
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...
The Contra Costa Canal Trail forms a horseshoe shape route, traversing through the urban and neighborhood landscape of Martinez, Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek and Concord. The trail follows the canal of...
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 Permanente Creek Trail offers a linear route through the suburban city of Mountain View, beginning at Shoreline At Mountain View and heading south to Rock Street. The paved pathway includes safe...
The Yerba Buena Creek Trail follows its namesake creek through Evergreen Park behind the community center, paralleling Yerba Buena Road and Park Estates Way.
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...
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...
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...
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...
Winding along the Pacific coast, the Monterey Bay Coastal Recreation Trail offers breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean and a great way to tour Monterey and adjacent communities while enjoying the...
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...
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 Ygnacio Canal Trail begins at a junction with the Contra Costa Canal Trail. Most of the trail runs along the Ygnacio Canal, a narrow irrigation channel where ducks live. The trail is paved, except...
The Lafayette-Moraga Regional Trail links its two namesake communities via a former logging railroad corridor that largely parallels St. Mary's Road. Uniquely, mules hauled lumber on the corridor...
The Visitacion Valley Greenway is a recreational gem tucked into a residential neighborhood in southern San Francisco. The paved pathway connects a series of small parks that offer a plethora of fun...
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 Pacific Gas and Electric Greenbelt bisects Stockton's Weston Ranch neighborhood diagonally from French Camp Road to the San Joaquin River via an overhead electric utility corridor. The main trail...
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...
We are a couple in our late 50s with road bikes. Scenic ride on paved bike trail separated from traffic. Variety of hills and level areas, windy cool weather, glad to have several layers, full gloves and headband to cover ears. We parked at Fort Ord Dunes State Park, Marina, CA. It has free parking and port-a-potty. Start on the Beach Range Road toward Monterey (a no vehicle road that runs next to bike trail). It ends and turns into the bike trail. Good trail signage, just know to make a Right hairpin turn under the freeway interchange. Good public restroom stop on right near London Bridge Pub, just past Monterey Kayaks. Beaches and picnic spots along the route. Continue to Lovers Point. The return trip is hilly towards the end, but great cardio training. Out and back was 20.5 miles and took about 3 hours of riding (Note: I averaged 7 mph with loaded panniers, my ultra fit husband could ride it much faster). We took a total of 4 hours with stops for snacks.
Creek, and signboards along the way to describe ancient history right on the spot.
Pleasant ride, somewhat busy on weekends. After a windy day you might find lots of twigs and leaves on the path. Crosses a few streets but not much traffic. Could use a trail marker in a couple places. Nice parks along the way but no bathroom except at Veterans Park just off the trail in Brentwood.
This is a nice paved trail that runs alongside places like the Boundary Oaks golf course and Lime Ridge park. It is nice for bikes as well as pedestrians -- and dogs on leash! It's a very low impact walk with very little slope. The tunnel underneath Ygnacio Valley Road is the coolest with lighting and is fairly clean (i.e., not a nasty stinky tunnel).
Felt like riding through a pile of trash!
Too many dogs not on leashes . Owners not picking up after them
If you need to get aways for a while and out into the open land this is a great little ride, walk or run. There's a bit of poop ¿ on the trail but overall it's beautiful.
Absolutely breathtaking, especially at sunset. This trail is mostly flat, with a descent into a gorge about halfway through.
Spectacular views! My favorite trail by far. Clean, safe and fun. Perfect day trip for a quick cheap family getaway.
Enjoyed this ride and chose to go back through the state park which has some challenging hills. The ocean views were amazing!!!
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