Urban Trails East Bay. Alexandra Kenin
include 6.3 miles of the San Francisco Bay Trail.
Point Pinole opened to the public in 1973 after the East Bay Regional Park District acquired this land from Bethlehem Steel. The steel company had purchased the land in the early 1960s from Atlas Powder Company, one of a number of companies that manufactured gunpowder and dynamite on this site for almost one hundred years.
The park’s eucalyptus forests were originally planted as a buffer against potential explosions. Today, they house wildlife, including deer, hawks, owls, Monarch butterflies, and more. More than one hundred different species of birds visit the park—so bring your binoculars if you’re a birder. They may also come in handy for getting a better look at boats and ships out in the bay.
This route, while almost 5 miles long, is rated easy due to the lack of elevation change. Enjoy the variation in scenery as you explore each section of the park.
GET MOVING
Enter the park from the Giant Highway Staging Area. Head right on the paved trail that leaves from the lot and walk 0.2 mile to Badger Bridge, where you cross the railroad tracks. Across the bridge, take a wide left to pick up the Bay View Trail (there is also a sign here for the San Francisco Bay Trail).
In less than 0.1 mile, reach a paved path. Take a quick jog left, and then follow the path as it bends right (north). The paved trail turns into a gravel one and you start to get views of Mount Tamalpais on your left.
After 0.2 mile, a trail joins yours from the right, but stay straight. Along this stretch, you’ll start seeing what will become familiar occurrences on this route—occasional eucalyptus trees and beaches below the trail to your left.
Continue another 0.5 mile on the Bay View Trail to reach a restroom on your right and beach access on your left shortly after that. After this, follow the Bay View Trail as it bears right (the trail in front of you is closed) and enters a eucalyptus grove. You quickly gain 45 feet of elevation over the next 0.1 mile.
Arrive soon at a trail junction where you’ll head left and then right on the Biazzi Trail. This trail is narrower and goes through more eucalyptus trees. (Ignore the path on the left that leads to an abandoned building.)
After 0.1 mile on the Biazzi Trail, stay straight as you pass the Nitro Trail. Then, after less than 0.1 mile, reach a junction with the Angel Buggy and Woods Trails. Take a wide left to pick up the Woods Trail. This is a long straightaway lined with eucalyptus.
Stay on this trail for 0.25 mile, ignoring other trails on your right and left, until you reach the Packhouse Loop trail. Take the trail that veers left and quickly leads you to a trail marker where you turn right onto the Bay View Trail. After about 150 feet, you leave the eucalyptus grove.
Point Pinole’s eucalyptus trees were planted to serve as buffers against explosions from gunpowder plants that once operated on this land.
Stay on the Bay View Trail for 0.4 mile. When the Bay View Trail bends right (east) at the northern tip of this park, stay straight 0.2 mile on a narrow trail to the right of a wood fence. You will pass an old bunker here. When you reach the fishing pier, you get a view of Mount Diablo. Here you can explore the pier (mileage not included in the selected route) or follow the trail down to the paved Pinole Point Trail and restroom. Follow the paved trail and walk around a roundabout (the shuttle turnaround area).
Take your first left after this onto the dirt Owl Alley Trail (also the San Francisco Bay Trail). After 0.2 mile, stay straight as you cross the China Cove Trail, a wide gravel trail. Now there is a marsh on your left and a meadow on your right. After another 0.25 mile, turn left on the Marsh Trail. While there is still a marsh on your left, there are now eucalyptus trees on your right.
After 0.5 mile, turn left to stay on the Marsh Trail (you can also pause to visit the historic powder press on your right). In 0.15 mile, there is an optional overlook with a bench to your left. Bear right and continue another 0.1 mile to get closer to the bay. From here, either continue to Cook’s Point (mileage not included in selected route) or head right and continue 0.2 mile on the Cook’s Point Trail to return to the powder press junction.
At the junction, turn left and continue on the Cook’s Point Trail for 0.25 mile, at which point you’ll see restrooms and a junction with the Owl Alley Trail on your right. Continue on the Cook’s Point Trail, and over the next 0.2 mile, you’ll walk alongside the Atlas Road Staging Area. Continue another 0.25 mile on the Cook’s Point Trail to reach a paved trail (Pinole Point Trail), where you turn left. On a clear day, you can see Sutro Tower in San Francisco in the distance. Stay on the paved trail 0.2 mile. Cross Badger Bridge on your left, turn right, and go the remaining 0.2 mile to the parking lot.
GO FARTHER
Have a picnic in one of the park’s many picnic areas, or check out the marshy surrounds of the trails south of the Giant Highway Staging Area, including the China Clipper Spur Trail and the Cordgrass Jetty Trail.
| 5 | Wildcat Canyon Regional Park |
| DISTANCE: | 6.8 miles |
| ELEVATION GAIN: | 1060 feet |
| HIGH POINT: | 1060 feet |
| DIFFICULTY: | Moderate |
| FITNESS: | Hikers, runners |
| FAMILY-FRIENDLY: | Parents with small children could do an out-and-back on the Wildcat Canyon Trail for an easier hike |
| DOG-FRIENDLY: | Off leash and under voice control in open areas; on leash on Nimitz Way and developed areas |
| AMENITIES: | Porta-potties and picnic area at the Alvarado Staging Area; a few benches along the trail |
| CONTACT: | East Bay Regional Park District |
| GPS: | 37°57'7.2396" N 122°19'6.3912" W |
| MAP TO: | Alvarado Staging Area, Park Avenue, Richmond, CA |
GETTING THERE
Public Transit: AC Transit bus 72 stops at the intersection of San Pablo Avenue and McBryde Avenue, a 1.1-mile walk from the Alvarado Staging Area.
Parking: There are numerous free parking spots at the Alvarado Staging Area off Park Avenue in Richmond.
Covering 2789 acres, Wildcat Canyon is a popular destination for hikers, runners, mountain bikers, horseback riders, and wildlife. The park is home to a wide range of animals, including deer, squirrels, foxes, coyotes, and snakes. Until the 1920s, the canyon was a drinking water source for the East Bay, but in 1936 the East Bay Regional Park District acquired 1910 acres of this land as parkland, making this one of the district’s first three parks. (Upper Wildcat Canyon was later turned into Tilden Regional Park.)
Alvarado Park, the northwestern section of Wildcat Canyon where this hike starts, used to be a private park; it was taken over by the City of Richmond in 1923 and transferred to the East Bay Regional Park District and made part of Wildcat Canyon in 1985. It was once home to an open-air pavilion, a dance hall (later converted into a roller rink), and more somberly, the Grande Vista Sanitarium, a center for people struggling with addiction and other mental health issues. Wildcat Canyon contains Works Progress Administration–era stone masonry work, which has earned the park a spot in the National Register of Historic Places.
The featured route starts out slowly, but builds to be much more interesting as it goes along. From the Wildcat Creek Trail, a wide fire trail, you’ll take the singletrack Havey Canyon Trail