RATING |
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 |
DISTANCE |
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4.8 miles round-trip |
HIKING TIME |
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2.5 hours |
ELEVATION GAIN |
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350 feet |
HIGH POINT |
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290 feet |
EFFORT |
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Easy Walk |
BEST SEASON |
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Year-round |
PERMITS/CONTACT |
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East Bay Regional Park District fee required ($5 per |
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vehicle), (888) 327-2757, www.ebparks.org |
MAPS |
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Download at www.ebparks.org |
NOTES |
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Dogs and bikes allowed ($2 dog fee); |
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some trails are wheelchair accessible |
The home of Ohlone Indians for more than 2,000 years, today Coyote Hills Regional Park is a place to enjoy bay and marsh views and abundant bird sightings.
From Interstate 880 in Newark, take Highway 84 west for 2 miles. Take the Paseo Padre Parkway exit, turn right (north), and drive 1 mile to Patterson Ranch Road. Turn left and drive 1.5 miles to the visitor center parking lot at Coyote Hills.
A 1,000-acre patch of open space along the edge of San Francisco Bay, the grassy knolls of Coyote Hills were the homeland of Ohlone Indians for more than 2,000 years. The Indians fished bay waters for food and cut willow branches along the creeks to build their homes. Today the park is a wildlife sanctuary, both a permanent home and a temporary rest stop for thousands of resident and migratory birds.
Binoculars are a worthwhile accessory for this trail, but many of the birds are so close that you don’t even need them. On one short walk at Coyote Hills, we watched a great egret stalk and catch a field mouse 20 yards from us, then fly off with it in his beak. Moments later a peregrine falcon soared overhead, shortly followed by a red-tailed hawk swooping and floating over the grasslands. In winter, great egrets and snowy egrets displaying exquisite white plumage are as common as human visitors to the park.
At Coyote Hills Regional Park, boardwalks criss-cross the tule-lined marsh, allowing hikers opportunities for up-close bird-watching.
The park has a paved multiuse trail along its hillsides, allowing hikers, baby stroller pushers, wheelchair users, and bikers to enjoy breathtaking bay and marsh views. But hikers who prefer earthen paths to pavement won’t be disappointed. Red Hill Trail climbs to the top of the park’s grassy hills for panoramic views and a close-up look at some odd rock formations—outcrops of reddish gold chert that were once part of the ocean floor.
It’s a park for wandering, with or without a formal plan. Start your trip at the Coyote Hills visitor center, which has some interesting displays on the natural and cultural history of the area. Then follow the gated, paved road—Bay View Trail—heading north from the visitor center parking lot.
Leave the pavement in 100 yards as you turn left on wide Nike Trail, heading toward the bay. In 0.25 mile, turn right on Red Hill Trail to begin a 2.3-mile loop on Red Hill and Bay View Trails. Hike up and over a grassy hill, then drop back down to the water’s edge. Rejoin paved Bay View Trail and stroll southward along the bay. Your trail is only 50 feet above the water’s edge. After a full mile of nonstop views, you’ll round Glider Hill and see the turnoff for Soaproot Trail. Turn left on Soaproot, then left again on Red Hill Trail to finish out your loop. As you hike to the top of Red Hill, consider the fact that when San Francisco Bay’s waters were higher (before dikes were built in the late 1800s), Red Hill and its neighboring hills were islands.
After exploring Red Hill and its red-colored rock formations, return to the junction with Nike Trail and retrace your steps to the visitor center parking lot. Then head off in the opposite direction, walking 50 yards south on the road you drove in on. Watch for a wooden boardwalk crossing the tule-lined marsh on your left. Follow the boardwalk through a labyrinth of tules, cattails, and sedges. The path leads to an Ohlone Indian shell mound. The largest of four shell mounds in the park, this debris pile supplies archaeological proof that Indians inhabited this area for at least 2,200 years.
For more bird-watching opportunities, head to neighboring Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, on the south side of Highway 84 off Thornton Avenue. Two of the largest egret nesting colonies in Northern California are located at the refuge. Start your trip at the large visitor center, then follow the signed boardwalk trails above the bay’s tidal flats.
