Find the top rated walking trails in Lafayette, whether you're looking for an easy short walking trail or a long walking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a walking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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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 NWP Railroad Trail runs on an arrow-straight course through Larkspur and Corte Madera in ritzy Marin County. Its name is derived from the railroad that once made use of the corridor: the...
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...
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 Crystal Springs Regional Trail is a developing network made up of three distinct portions: the San Andreas segment, Sawyer Camp segment and Crystal Springs segment. The two northern segments are...
This innovative road-to-trail project opened for public use in March 2014. The trail, which features stunning Pacific Ocean views, makes use of a former portion of California's State Route 1, which...
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 Lower Silver Creek Trail runs in a nearly straight line between Ocala Avenue and Dobern Avenue (Abed Court). Between Foxdale Drive and Logsden Way there's a short (about 0.25 mile) on-street...
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 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...
Running from Solano Community College on the southwest edge of town and into the town of Fairfield, the Fairfield Linear Park Path provides convenient bike access to the action on campus and in the...
The Novato Boulevard Path is a multi-use trail that can be used recreationally, but is more useful as a commuting route. Closely following its namesake road, the path is completely separated from the...
The San Tomas Aquino Creek Trail offers a paved route running approximately 5 miles through Santa Clara along its namesake waterway. In the north, the trail connects to the Highway 237 Bikeway (a...
The Prince Memorial Greenway is a short urban trail on both sides of Santa Rosa Creek in the Sonoma County community of Santa Rosa. A major component of the city's efforts to clean up and restore 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...
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 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...
One of the newest trails in Elk Grove's impressive system, the Franklin Creek Trail provides extensive recreation and active transportation options to residents of the city's southern neighborhoods....
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...
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...
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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 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...
Davis is a bike town, and they love the trails that connect to the UC Davis campus. For a little excursion, take the scenic trail out of town and through farmland on the straight shot along Russell...
The Golden Gate Park Bike Path winds through San Francisco's famous city park, providing both a retreat from urban life and an important link in the city's growing bike network. The paved trail passes...
The Mori Ridge Trail is one trail of many in beautiful Sweeney Ridge, a prime bicycling and hiking area in San Mateo County. The natural surface path runs from a junction with both the Sweeney Ridge...
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 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 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...
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...
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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 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...
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 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 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 Sneath Lane Trail is one trail of many in beautiful Sweeney Ridge, a prime bicycling and hiking area in San Mateo County. From a trailhead in the Crestmoor neighborhood of San Bruno, the paved...
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 Centennial Way Trail follows the path of the BART line between San Bruno station and South San Francisco station. The BART, of course, runs underground while the trail doesn't. The 10-foot-wide...
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 Crystal Springs Regional Trail is a developing network made up of three distinct portions: the San Andreas segment, Sawyer Camp segment and Crystal Springs segment. The two northern segments are...
The Southside Bikeway connects downtown Vacaville via a former Sacramento Northern Railway corridor to the city's southern neighborhoods near Al Patch Park. The route is a nice, short path, ideal for...
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 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...
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...
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...
The Delta de Anza Regional Trail is 15 miles long, running between Willow Pass Road at Route 4 near Concord and Main Street (Rt. 4) at E. Cypress Road in Oakley. The eastern end in Oakley intersects...
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 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 Alamo Creek Bikeway is a shaded path along Alamo Creek in Vacaville. The trail connects residents with several parks, including Nelson Park, Patwin Park and Beelard Park. The trail is not just...
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 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 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...
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 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...
One of the newest trails in Elk Grove's impressive system, the Franklin Creek Trail provides extensive recreation and active transportation options to residents of the city's southern neighborhoods....
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 Yerba Buena Creek Trail follows its namesake creek through Evergreen Park behind the community center, paralleling Yerba Buena Road and Park Estates Way.
The Napa River Trail parallels its namesake river through the City of Napa from Kennedy Park to just south of Trancas Crossing Park. It is currently open in two disconnected segments. The southern...
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 Browns Valley Road Trail is an excellent commuter trail that parallels its namesake road from Vaca Valley Parkway to Brown Street in Vacaville.
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,...
Started at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond and traveled south (clockwise) along the bay to the Central Ave intersection and return. A good portion of the trail is wide and plenty of room for walkers and bikers. The last couple miles we rode is a bit narrower, still enough room for both. Trail condition is great. A number of interpretative signs are placed, discussing the history and nature of this area. Well worth the visit. Take time to see the Rosie Visitor Center. Luck was with us when we visited and were able to attend a talk by the National Park Service’s oldest park ranger (97 yrs old). Betty Reid Soskin is an articulate speaker and recounted her time living in the area and working in the ship yards during WWII. If given the opportunity don’t miss out. Noted that the trail in this area had great signage and shouldn’t have any trouble following the route. Some of the trail going north (counterclockwise) was on the street with designated bike lanes. Looking forward to doing other sections of this trail when we visit again in the future.
Thursday, January 3, 2019
My wife and I started this ride at the northern most entrance at the corner of San Bruno Avenue West and Skyline Blvd. We parked at a dirt church parking lot across from the trail head that a sign said was open to the public. TrailLinks indicates there is parking at the San Andrea Trail parking lot about a ½ mile down the trail along Skyline Blvd. It not really a parking lot but more of a wide spot on the road. I actually didn’t recognize it on the first pass as there was only one car parked there.
Heading south from the trail head (you begin on the two lane paved San Andreas Trail) you begin a rolling incline as you ride along next to Skyline Road. After about 3 miles you will top out as you head toward the San Andreas Lake and begin a long 400 foot drop over the next mile or two to the San Andreas Dam. Pedaling is optional and by this time you have passed at least one bathroom…expect to see more.
By the time you reach the dam, you will be on the Sawyer Camp Recreational Trail. The view from the dam was spectacular, particularly as it is quite green this time of year. There are plenty of tree covered sections to make you really feel you are outdoors. A pretty nice feeling for being in the “city”. There are also several historic sites marked along the trail.
After crossing the dam your drop further down into the creek. The trees provide quite a bit of shading which would be good in the summer months but got quite chilly for our ride. There are picnic tables and of course, another bathroom.
You will eventually end up along the shore of the Lower Crystal Springs Reservoir. Again, spectacular views and a ton of friendly deer. We also began to encounter more and more hikers as this section is easily accessible from the entrance at the Sawyer Camp trail head next to the Crystal Springs Road and is pretty flat all the way to the bottom of the San Andreas Dam. Not too much of a problem for our week day winter ride, but I expect this would get very crowded on weekends and summer.
We made our turnaround at the Sawyer Camp Trailhead (10 miles from our start) but not before making a side trip about a mile and a half north UP Hwy 35 to the Crystal Springs Golf course for lunch. The menu was typical bar food. The cheeseburger was huge and tasty. I would suggest splitting one as it came with a very large order of fries (my wife got onion rings). It was a small restaurant/bar overlooking the driving range.
My wife and I have Specialized Como electric bikes so the pedal assisted ride back up the trail was not difficult. But the incline was not that steep and was steady over a couple miles. Good gearing and little patience should not dampen your ride.
Total round trip (including the 1-1/2 mile one way side trip for lunch) was 22 miles.
This was our first ride of 2019 on a route we had never been before and we have lived in the Bay Area for 30 years. A hearty thanks to TrailLink for highlighting this on their web page!
After reading about the Arroyo Mocho Trail, I headed out to reconnoiter my future commute route to work (Livermore) from San Ramon. The first 4-5 miles of this trail is hazardous for those with novice or beginner level riding skills. Those first few miles are mostly loose gravel with some gaping cracks in the paved sections. After that, the trail turns to a smoother, paved trail. Mountain, Gravel, Cyclocross or otherwise 'wide tires' are recommended for those with less experience riding in loose terrain.
The start of the trail by the fish viewing area is a FIRE TRAIL. The second half, after crossing the road, is paved asphalt. Unfortunately I showed up with my road bike and not my mountain bike, so my ride was a short one.
A friend and I rode this trail as part of a two-day bike ride in East Bay – riding the Iron Horse Trail and the Contra Costa Canal Trails. On the first day – we road mostly the Iron Horse and then rode the Eastern Section of the Canal Trail to the end and back. This section of the Canal trail started out a bit rough but only for a small portion – maybe 100 yards – then the surface was smooth and it was a great ride along the canal through nice neighborhoods. We spent the night near the intersection of the Iron Horse and the Canal Trail and rode the Western Section the next day before heading back down the Iron Horse Trail. The western section of the trail was great as well – nice surface – easy to follow with a minimum of street crossings. Both of these trails have a lot of street crossings, but almost all of the crossings give a preference to the trail. We only had to wait at a few. Definitely a nice place to ride!
A friend and I rode this trail as part of a two-day bike ride in East Bay – riding the Iron Horse Trail and the Contra Costa Canal Trails. This trail gets 4.5 stars – there are some sections that area not all that great, but for the most part of the 24.5 miles we rode (both ways) are fabulous! We started in Dublin and rode to the end. The trail from Dublin through Danville and Alamo was really excellent, going through nice neighborhoods, has a GREAT, smooth surface and was sheltered for the most part so wind was not a great factor either way. The Walnut Creek section was a bit sketchy with some not so nice, unattractive sections with chain-link fences and rough surface. Odd – because one of the sections was used by High School students in large groups going home – it is absolutely used as a transportation route – not just a multi-use trail for recreation. We would have thought it would be better maintained. Past that and into Concord it was nice again except that there is an unmarked break in the trail at Monument Boulevard. We simply crossed a road and ended up on the wrong trail without noticing and there are no markings at all to say turn left here and go a few feet to the Iron Horse Trail so we found ourselves dumped onto a street unexpectedly. This was the Monument Corridor Trail in Concord. When you cross Monument Boulevard, you need to pay attention. It was a bit confusing and difficult to get back to the trail we wanted. But we did and coming back figured out what the problem was. The rest of the trail was ok but a bit choppy (i.e., bumps, cracks) around the airport. There are a couple of underpasses – but you notice right away if you miss them and can see where the trail is – like at Concord Avenue. The end of the trail is through an open field on the side of an airport and can get quite windy – but it isn’t long and is just part of the experience. Overall – a GREAT ride!
Someone needs to maintain the event calendar--it says no events, but there was an organised marathon last weekend. There were tons of runners--it's safe, paved, etc. It would be nice to get one or two additional locations for restroom/water. I've been using this trail for 30 years, and it's nice to see that it gets appreciated by regular use (which also keeps it safe!)
Stayed at the Hilton on the south side of the trail and went north past the airport. It's a well maintained trail that follows the tiny Guadalupe river. If you can stay north of Julian St, you'll avoid sketchy-looking tent cities. I felt the run was perfectly safe and saw plenty of people throughout my run. I'd recommend it.
BE CAREFUL on the part of the trail that connects Antioch to Oakley. There are guys riding motorbikes on the trail sometime. They usually stick to the hills but will come down to the trail. There are some incredibly blind turns and these guys are driving really fast. They WILL hurt someone or themselves one day.
I don't really enjoy this trail. I only use it for my convenience. In fact, I use this trail to get to the Marsh Creek Trail, which is awesome!
Parked off of Gold Street. I didn't feel good about leaving my car there. It's a pretty rough looking area. There was trash everywhere. Broken glass, mattresses, mufflers. Went for the ride anyway. First few miles were great. Trail was well maintained and smooth. Once I got south of the airport it all went, well, south. The underpasses were all full of homeless people. Occasionally some would be sitting on the edge of the trial. No issues, but I never felt safe. It really killed what would have been an otherwise pleasant ride. I won't be back.
Nice flat trail that is perfect for older dogs. Lots of garbage cans available along the way for dog poop.
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