The San Francisco Bay Trail is a proposed 400-mile network of trails around the shores of San Francisco Bay. The Bay Trail runs through the 9 counties that surround the Bay. Over 310 miles of the trail have been completed. (See here for Bay Trail General Facts.) The trails run along the bayshore, salt ponds, creeks and sloughs, and marshes. The trails are ideal for biking, walking, jogging, nature-watching, and other activities. The trails are mostly flat, so are suitable for people of all physical abilities. The trail surfaces range from gravel roads, dirt levees, to paved landscaped paths. The paved paths are suitable for roller skates, baby strollers, and wheelchairs.

The environments range from enormous lonely salt ponds, to popular developed parks, to narrow paths near busy streets and commercial areas. Wildlife abounds, particularly waterfowl. These are excellent places for bird-watching. Ducks, geese, herons, egrets, pelicans, gulls, marsh hawks, cormorants, and shorebirds abound in these areas. Two endangered species make their homes in the pickleweed marshes along the Bay: the clapper rail and the salt marsh harvest mouse.

Near the airports, the Bay Trail is an ideal area for watching manmade birds land and take off. Access to the Bay also makes the shorelines along the Bay Trail popular places for water sports such as fishing, swimming, and wind surfing. There are many public parks and recreational facilties along the trail, as well as homes, businesses, hotels, restaurants, and stores. The trail can be used for travelling to recreational spots, going to shop or eat, or even commuting to work. These activities will become even more possible once the entire Bay Trail is complete. With the public purchase of the Cargill salt ponds in the South Bay, even more trails are possible.

I've been biking around the southern Bay Trails. I've taken pictures of the scenery and made notes on the routes. My goal is to cover the Bay Trail from San Francisco International Airport, down the Peninsula, around the South Bay, and up the East Bay to Oakland International Airport. Some the links below are old ones from my Bay Area Biking pages.  Other pages have been developed for ABAG's official Bay Trail web site as "guided photo tours," with pictures and trail descriptions.

My hope is that these tours will result in increased awareness, appreciation, and support for the Bay Trail. Hopefully, as the Bay Trail brings more people in contact with the Bay, it will result in more support for preserving and restoring the Bay itself and its natural resources. Public and private support is needed to complete the Bay Trail. Once it is complete and unbroken, it will be one of the nations's truly great trail systems and will be a treasure for the Bay Area for years to come.

Here are the Bay Trail pages I've developed or am working on, starting from the Peninsula, looping down through the South Bay, and up the East Bay:

Peninsula Trails Oyster Cove	South San Francisco to Brisbane: Oyster Cove to Sierra Point, 11/6/03 *  South San Francisco: Point San Bruno to Oyster Point, 11/6/03 * South San Francisco: SamTrans Peninsula to Point San Bruno, 11/6/03 * San Mateo to Millbrae, 12/11/99 * Coyote Point, 12/14/99 * Foster City, 12/5/99 * Redwood Shores, 8/3/00 * Bair Island - future page Redwood City, 9/26/07 Menlo Park, 6/11/00 * Dumbarton Bridge, 10/6/04 * Ravenswood, 10/21/10
South Bay Trails Sunnyvale Baylands	Palo Alto Baylands 8/25/00 *, 10/17/10 update Palo Alto Baylands: Matadero Creek to Byxbee Park, 2/14/00 * Mountain View: Stevens Creek Trail, 11/22/02 *, 2009 update Shoreline at Mountain View, 10/22/02 *, 7/9/09 update Also see Palo Alto Baylands to Shoreline at Mountain View (2/20/99 from my Bay Area Biking pages) Moffett Bay Trail (Opening Ceremony 9/20/10) Sunnvale Baylands 2011 Update Sunnyvale Baylands Part 1: The Bay Trail and Hills, 10/28/01 * Sunnyvale Baylands Part 2:  The Baylands Ponds, 10/28/01 * Sunnyvale Baylands Part 3: Sunnyvale Baylands Park and Nearby Trails, 10/28/01 * Also see my Sunnyvale Baylands biking page (11/27/98 from my Bay Area Biking pages) San Tomas Aquino Creek Trail, Santa Clara, 7/6/10 Alviso: Town and Slough, 12/29/99 * Alviso: Mallard Slough & Environmental Education Center, 12/29/99 * Also see my San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge -Alviso page (11/27/98 from my Bay Area Biking pages) Guadalupe River Trail: Hwy 101 to Alviso, 12/1/08 Alviso Marina County Park 11/27/10
East Bay Trails SF Bay Refuge HQ	Coyote Creek Lagoon - Fremont, 1/31/02 * Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge - Fremont, 2/4/02 * Also see San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge - Newark (11/27/98 from my Bay Area Biking pages) Coyote Hills - Part 1: Apay Way to SF Bay (10/9/00),  Part 2: Hills, Marshes, and Trails (10/8/00) *. Also see Coyote Hills Regional Park (11/27/98 from my Bay Area Biking pages). Alameda Creek Trail (in 4 sections, 10/8/00) - Southwest, Southeast, Northwest, Northeast * Also see The Alameda Creek Regional Trail on my Bay Area Biking pages, 11/26/98. Eden Landing, Hayward, 12/19/10 Hayward Shoreline, 12/5/99 * San Leandro: San Lorenzo Creek to Marina Park, 12/5/99 * San Leandro Marina - future page. Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline, 4/9/00 *
	* These pages are completed virtual tours now on the official Bay Trail Web Site. Disclaimer note: the Bay Trail's website is undergoing reconstruction. Many of the old guided photo tours are no longer accessible from the Bay Trail homepage, though the tours still exist and can be accessed from this page. However, the links and information on those pages may be outdated and cannot be updated at this point. (See the Bay Trail's disclaimer.) The older the pages are, the more likely they are to have outdated information and stale links. Some areas may now be inaccessible, while new areas may be accessible. Park rules and hours may have changed. All conditions and information on these pages represent a snapshot in time and are subject to change without notice. They should not be relied upon to be accurate. Consult the various park agencies for the most up-to-date information.