Coyote Hills Regional Park

Trailhead Location: From the Quarry Staging Area, follow the asphalt trail near the porta-potty. It gently climbs .14 miles, then crosses Meadowlark Trail and continues another .07 miles to the Apay Way trailhead. There's a slight drop-off onto the trail.

Trail Overview: This 1.3-mile trail offers Bay views similar to those along the Bay View Trail but is a bumpier and much more challenging ride. Unless you want to connect to Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge (Fremont) or see the working quarry at the end of the trail, for greater comfort I suggest taking the Bay View Trail. The trail begins with a gentle uphill climb along a hillside, and although the path is greater than 5 feet wide, there’s a ridge down the center––likely from erosion––that makes the trail uneven. I stayed close to the hillside because the trail was wider there. Old pilings from a pier come into view, as does the Dumbarton Bridge, and with it more traffic noise. You’re about 30 feet above the water, with great views of the abundant waterfowl, until you make a steep ascent to a small eucalyptus grove, where tree roots have made the asphalt uneven. The trail levels out for a good distance but is rockier as you get closer to the quarry. It travels steeply downhill to a bridge that crosses Hwy. 84, then ends at the entrance road to Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

More Info: Some steep sections may be challenging in a manual wheelchair. The last third, where the trail is cut into the rocky hillside, is a pretty rough ride.

Trail Overview: This exhilarating three-mile paved loop has several steep ups and downs as it traverses the park’s hills, offering spectacular views of the South Bay’s diked salt ponds, Dumbarton Bridge, Alameda Creek, and the East Bay hills. At the first trail junction, .25 miles from the visitor center, the hard-packed dirt and gravel Lizard Rock Trail leads inland about .25 miles to the network of marsh trails. At the second junction, another .5 miles along at the northern tip of the Bay View loop, you can follow the paved side trail downhill to the Alameda Creek Trail, which leads 1.37 miles toward the Bay or inland 10.5 miles along Alameda Creek. If you choose to go toward the Bay, you’ll see up close the salt ponds and marshes, now part of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project aims to restore 15,100 acres of salt ponds to natural wetlands. Watch out for goose droppings on the last .5 miles of the Alameda Creek Trail as you roll toward the Bay.

On my visit, I returned to the Bay View Trail and continued south. This stretch of trail was my favorite; it hugs the hillside 100 feet above the Bay, and I felt closer to the landscape and the elements. There is no guardrail along this section, which has a cross-slope, but the trail is a comfortable 5 feet wide. For the next 1.5 miles, layered outcroppings of reddish rock tell of geologic upheaval, anise plants grow tall, grasses rustle in the wind, and hikers climbing the park’s interior hills appear as tiny moving specks. As you round the southern end of the loop you pass junctions for the No Name Trail (which quickly becomes inaccessible) and the Apay Way Trail (see below), which becomes quite steep about a mile out. I continued on the Bay View Trail, which climbs a short, moderately steep hill, passes a junction with more inaccessible side trails, then curves north and runs along the eastern side of the hills, where California sagebrush is the dominant shrub. The Dairy Glen campground is on your right. A quarter-mile past the campground is the Quarry Staging Area. Continue on Bay View Trail past the parking lot, cross Patterson Ranch Road, and turn left to return to the visitor center in a quarter-mile.

More Info: Several sections have moderate and steep slopes that may pose a challenge for manual wheelchair riders. Older sections of the trail tend to have more potholes and crumbling pavement, and are a less comfortable ride than newer sections. Much of the trail has a significant cross-slope that may slow down some manual wheelchair riders.

Trailhead Location: Most of the trails can be accessed across from the visitor center. To reach the Lizard Rock Trail, follow the Bay View Trail left from the visitor center about .3 miles to the second Lizard Rock trailhead (the first trailhead quickly becomes inaccessible as it hugs the hillside). The Willows and Crandal Creek trails were not explored.

Trail Overview: To explore the extensive network of trails through the park’s fresh and saltwater marshes, it’s a good idea to pick up a map at the visitor center; trails are clearly marked. I started by following the accessible boardwalk. Some may need assistance on the steep approach, across Patterson Ranch Road from the visitor center. The 800-foot Boardwalk Trail passes through the Main Marsh, where tules and cattails grow tall and thick, turning from green to gold with the seasons. Being so close to the water, with the grasses obscuring everything except the sky, gave me the sensation of floating along with the many white pelicans and ducks I saw. A return visit during a drought year provided a very different experience.

After less than a tenth of a mile the boardwalk ends and you enter the dirt-and-gravel Chochenyo Trail. At the first junction, where the Muskrat Trail (limited access) leads right, veer left to stay on Chochenyo. At the next junction, stay right to continue .25 miles to the Ohlone Village. The village was built on a shellmound—a large pile of shells found near villages where shellfish were a staple. You can catch glimpses of it through the fence; for a closer view, join a docent-led tour.

Instead of taking the branch of the Chochenyo Trail that leads to the village, you can continue on the trail's main stem as it passes a narrower section of marsh and then dead-ends at the D.U.S.T Trail. This is a lovely spot to linger and watch waterfowl fly overhead and gracefully land in the shallow waters. I could even see ducks below the water, diving for food. Although civilization is nearby, this spot felt isolated. You can turn left at the dead end to return to the Bay View Trail via Lizard Rock Trail (I took this route on a previous trip; it wraps around the base of a hill for .4 miles and passes under a few trees that offer some of the only shade along the wetland trails), or turn right to follow a channel about .4 miles to Crandall Creek Trail. On my most recent visit, I took the latter route. Tree-swallow houses on posts made by children lined the trail. As I got closer to Crandall Creek Trail, I could see some development to the east, with hills providing a backdrop. Bicyclists sped along Alameda Creek Trail, but I saw no way to connect to it. According to my map, if I went another mile, I could connect near Ardenwood Boulevard. Instead, I retraced my route to the visitor center.
 

More Info: Except for the boardwalk, trail segments vary in bumpiness depending on the size of the gravel.

Trail Overview: ** This trail was reviewed while using a rear-wheel motorized wheelchair and presented no access difficulties.

Lower Meadowlark Trail is the most accessible trail that connects from Dumbarten Quarry Campground north to Coyote Hills park. The trail in its entirety makes a nearly 2-mile loop however this review only covers the easier 1-mile lower section (2-miles out and back) as the upper section appeared too steep for comfort.  

Start your adventure on the paved connector Serpentine Trail located in the campground behind the Patterson picnic area, then turn left. In about .1 mile you’ll meet up with a firmly packed gravel road, turn left. In less than .2 mile you will see signs for upper and lower Meadowlark Trail. The lower trail starts with a gentle incline and then is mostly level until it meets up with upper Meadowlark Trail where there is another gentle incline (slightly greater than 8%). On an early June morning dried grasses swayed in the gentle breeze and birdsong was plentiful. You pass South Marsh on your right but on our visit it appeared dry. There was an occasional sighting of wild turkeys and to the north are expansive views of the varied landscape of Coyote Hills Park.

Overall the trail can be bumpy and the cross slope may be uncomfortable for manual wheelchair users however you can somewhat avoid the cross slope by straddling the raised middle sectional of the trail. Looking at the shape of the terrain it appears as though park vehicles may use this trail.

If you want to extend your hike further, once you meet up with Upper Meadowlark Trail, turn right and then left onto the paved Bayview Trail which hugs the bay shoreline high above the water and you can travel north another few miles. Otherwise retrace your route back to the campground.

More Info: The terrain can be quite bumpy in places. May be muddy after rains.

The facilities listed below meet all of our access criteria unless otherwise noted.