Explore the best rated trails in San Rafael, CA. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Lincoln Hill Pathway and NWP Railroad Trail. With more than 87 trails covering 694 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.
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The Central County Bikeway begins at Suisun-Fairfield train station, which is used by Amtrak and Capitol Corridor trains. The station is in a commercial area between Fairfield and Suisun City. The...
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 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 Matadero Creek Trail, also known as the Page Mill-Arastradero Connector, offers beautiful views of the San Francisco Bay and Santa Cruz Mountains as it winds its way through gently rolling hills...
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 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...
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 Santa Rosa Creek Trail follows the meandering course of Santa Rosa Creek, beginning in downtown Santa Rosa and heading west beyond Willowside Road. From end to end, the trail is only a few miles...
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...
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 Foss Creek Pathway offers a short, pleasant route through the small town of Healdsburg and is lined with public art and landscaping. Open in two disconnected segments, the trail follows the...
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...
Naomi Patridge Trail is a 2 mile coastal trail paralleling Highway 1 in Half Moon Bay, California. The trail was named for a longtime San Mateo Councilwoman, prominent volunteer and lifelong Half Moon...
For years, only one of the four bridges across San Francisco Bay, Dumbarton Bridge, accommodated bikes and pedestrians. Now Bay residents can celebrate the opening of another cross-bay connection,...
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 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 Joe Rodota Trail is built along the corridor of the old Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railway, which carried passengers between Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Sebastopol until it was abandoned in 1984....
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 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...
Riding high on the cliffs at North America's western edge, this San Francisco-area trail offers unbeatable views of Golden Gate Bridge and the Pacific Ocean at San Francisco Bay. Add to that a chance...
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...
The Central County Bikeway begins at Suisun-Fairfield train station, which is used by Amtrak and Capitol Corridor trains. The station is in a commercial area between Fairfield and Suisun City. The...
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 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 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 Matadero Creek Trail, also known as the Page Mill-Arastradero Connector, offers beautiful views of the San Francisco Bay and Santa Cruz Mountains as it winds its way through gently rolling hills...
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...
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Tucked in the quiet Oakland hills neighborhood of Montclair, the Shepherd Canyon Trail (a.k.a. Montclair Railroad Trail) is a popular community rail-trail that has come to symbolize the power of...
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The spectacular Sir Francis Drake Bikeway (also known as the Cross Marin Trail) sits on the recycled roadbed of the former North Pacific Coast Railroad, which used to run from Larkspur to Cazadero....
The Baquiano Trail is one trail of many in beautiful Sweeney Ridge, a prime bicycling and hiking area in San Mateo County. The trail climbs 550 feet from a junction with two hiking trails in the west...
For years, only one of the four bridges across San Francisco Bay, Dumbarton Bridge, accommodated bikes and pedestrians. Now Bay residents can celebrate the opening of another cross-bay connection,...
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...
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...
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This 2.5-mile trail segment through San Francisco's Presidio is part of 340-mile network of multi-use trails collectively known as the Bay Area Ridge Trail that climb Bay Area mountain ridges and pass...
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 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...
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 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 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 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...
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 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...
For years, only one of the four bridges across San Francisco Bay, Dumbarton Bridge, accommodated bikes and pedestrians. Now Bay residents can celebrate the opening of another cross-bay connection,...
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 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 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 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...
The Corte Madera Creek Path is open in two disconnected segments that can be linked via a bike ride on low-stress S. Eliseo Drive or a walk or run on its sidewalk. Both sections closely follow the...
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 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 spectacular Sir Francis Drake Bikeway (also known as the Cross Marin Trail) sits on the recycled roadbed of the former North Pacific Coast Railroad, which used to run from Larkspur to Cazadero....
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 Pacheco Hill Path is a straight shot along US 101 between Marinwood and Novato. In the north, the trail ends just outside of Hamilton at the entrance to the Loma Verde Preserve. Several bus stops...
Riding high on the cliffs at North America's western edge, this San Francisco-area trail offers unbeatable views of Golden Gate Bridge and the Pacific Ocean at San Francisco Bay. Add to that a chance...
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 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...
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 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...
Cool sights in wildlife. People here are snotty techies¿. No one says hello back. But ride is nice out to the bay
If you start from Oakleys Big Break until the End in Brentwood it’s about a 20 mile RT. Safe, nice sites.
This trail is a good length for a stroll. It is hilly and scenic. It is in a valley. The trail is asphalt with cracks sealed with tar. Except for the east end, which is concrete and very wide. I don’t recommend it for skating because it is rough and short. Also the hill at the west end near the bathrooms/parking is very steep.
In July, 2021, trail was extended south 1/3 mile to Linda Vista Park in Cupertino.
This path is very family/kid friendly (flat, playground...bonus playground a mile out...donkeys you can pet, but there are no public restrooms nearby! Would be a four star rating if there was a bathroom.
We went on this trail yesterday and really liked it! There’s a little bit of up and down, but an ambitious 9 year old and a reluctant 12 year old did it on bikes with gears. Do not park at the southern most lot, though as the path is closed a mile after starting due to a bridge being under construction. Start at the second lot going north at St. Mary’s and Moraga.
I am not sure this same bike place wondering nice wineries. A beautiful scenery and it was absolutely fantastic if anybody brings the blogs or bikes it’s a wonderful thing to do to get away from the bay area
My wife and I rode the Napa Valley Vine Trail while staying at the Napa Valley Marriott Hotel & Spa near the intersection of State Route 29 and Redwood Road in Napa. We rode north 5.5 miles before turning around and heading back to the hotel. The trail was flat, paved and in good condition and only lightly traveled. If we had gone another half mile north, we would have reached the point where the Trail crosses underneath State Route 29 to the east side. From there it proceeds another 2 miles north before it ends at Madison Road in Yountville. When it ends you can proceed east on Madison in a bike lane. Overall, the continuous section of the trail from the north side of Napa to the south side of Yountville is about eight miles. Only gave the Trail four stars because in the first mile or two proceeding north from Napa there are three busy intersections that require you to wait for the crossing signal that may require 30-60 seconds each.
This trail doesn't look anything like the photo above. This is essentially Old Lucas Valley Rd and it is rough and very inclined laterally in many places. I have a lightweight disability scooter and it was rough for me. For strong walkers it would be a nice short walk (2/3 mile ea direction) with brush and trees on both sides, and the creek between the pavement and the main road, mostly a good dog walk (with receptacles for poop at each end which not everyone is using). It is true that there is no parking on the west end M-F and little at the east end at any time. So it's basically mostly for the neighborhood, not so much the public.
We rode bikes on the trail from Forestville to Occidental Road. The trail is not completely flat but the hills were somewhat shallow and steady. From where we started on Pajaro Lane in Forestville we first went downhill a little while and then had an uphill climb for a fair distance followed by some fairly flat trail then a slight downhill. There is a section of the trail that is dirt and gravel along the way but it isn’t more than about 1/4 mile. The trail was shady in most places and the short sections on roads were reasonable.
Avoid the southern end of the trail from West Virginia street to Park Ave. the trail has significant trash, broken glass and smells of human waste. This is not a pleasant ride.
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