Oyster
Bay Regional Shoreline,
East Bay Regional Park District,
Alameda County
In brief:
2.1 mile loop at a former dump site right along the bay, just south of the Oakland
airport.
Getting there:
From Interstate 880 in Alameda County, exit Marina Boulevard West (exit 33b).
Drive west on Marina about 1.2 miles, then turn right onto Neptune. Drive about
0.6 mile on Neptune, to the end of the road.
Trailhead details:
No parking or entrance fees. Side of street parking at the edge of an industrial
neighborhood. Drinking water and a map (under glass) a short distance from the
road. Portable toilets about 0.2 mile from the trailhead. There are no designated
handicapped parking spots and wheelchair access is blocked -- a pity, since the
paved shoreline trail is well-suited to wheels. There is no direct public transportation
to Oyster Bay, but AC Transit bus #55 stops within walking distance. Visit the
Transit Info website
for details.
Gas, food, and lodging:
Pay phones, stores, restaurants, and gas back on Marina Boulevard. No camping.
Distance, category, and difficulty:
This 2.1 mile loop hike is easy. The shoreline area is almost completely
flat.
Rules:
Trails are multi-use. Dogs are permitted.
The Official Story:
EBRPD's Oyster
Bay page
EBRPD's
Oyster Bay brochure (pdf)
Map Choices/More Info:
• Use AAA's San Francisco Bay Region map to get there.
• EBRPD's
Oyster Bay map (pdf)
• Map
from Bay Trail website.
• The Bay Trail's Oyster
Bay page
Oyster
Bay in a nutshell -- a printable, text-only guide to the featured hike.
View
photos from this hike.
Since Oyster Bay Shoreline, a former dump,
is still under development by the East Bay Regional Bay District, parts of the
park resemble a construction site, with heavy machinery and old slabs of concrete
strewn about. But a paved mile-long trail running along the shoreline is clean
and peaceful, if you aren't too bothered by planes landing and taking off from
adjacent Oakland Airport.
The shoreline park is not heavily used. Regulars
seem to consists solely of local San Leandro retirees and folks with dogs making
a daily walk, and a handful of bicyclists. Most people walk out and back on the
paved trail, a 2-mile jaunt. Due to Oyster Bay's remote yet industrial location,
and scarce use, it's best to visit the park with friends.
Start at the entrance gate. After about 250
feet, you'll arrive at the information signboard and an unsigned junction. Stay
to the left on the wide paved path, a Bay Trail segment. At a very gentle
ascending 
grade
the trail skirts a hilltop, through grassland overrun with fennel. You may notice
a sequence of numbered posts, part of a short loop through the center of the park.
Thankfully walking in this direction the industrial area is at your back. At 0.11
mile a dirt path departs to the left. Continue straight. You'll draw near
to a collection of planted vegetation including eucalyptus and cottonwood, on
the right. At 0.17 mile, the first of two trails breaks off to the right, heading
to a picnic area (and the portable toilets). Continue straight on the pavement.
As the trail descends a bit, there are sweeping views south of the bay and the
San Leandro Marina area. A trail heads right (the numbered posts and the short
loop goes with it). Continue straight. Where the trail reaches the riprap-enforced
shoreline, a dirt path feeds in from the left. Bear right. An old fence
sets a trail border on the right, but there are some broken segments with paths
heading uphill, as well as more substantial (but unsigned) junctions with established
trails. Continue on 
the
paved trail. Airplane traffic to and from Oakland Airport is constant. A small
amount of vegetation is squeezed in along the trail -- the usual shoreline community
of mustard, poison hemlock, dock, fennel, and coyote brush, with some invasive
thistles, including yellow star. Benches are placed every so often on the right,
and you can sit, eat lunch, and enjoy the view across the bay to the peninsula
and Santa Cruz Mountains. Look for jackrabbits in the grassland on the right,
where old dumped concrete sections jut up from the weeds. As the trail makes its
way north, the airport buildings come into view. I was tired of the airport and
wanted to explore the grassland, so instead of continuing to the end of the paved
trail (the usual pattern for most visitors, and of course, an option for your
walk), I decided to check out an alternate route. At 1.32 miles, just past a bench
on the left, the paved trail swings left, and a broad dirt trail veers right and
uphill. Turn right onto the dirt trail.
My route was fragmented and somewhat confusing.
It's hard to get lost in this small park, but if you get confused aim yourself
east toward the hills (at one point I tried to navigate by searching for the exhaust
chimney across the street from the parking area). Do stay on the trails though,
and resist any urges to travel cross county: there's quite a bit of debris in
this grassland. After a few feet, a trail heads left. Stay to the right. After
a few more steps, ignore a path to the right, and at 1.44 miles you should
arrive at a T junction. Turn right, and then continue straight past a trail
heading left. Stay on this wide trail -- you'll pass numerous other options
on both sides of the trail. Construction equipment was parked along the trail,
and you may see work crews. The trail should usher you to a three-way junction
at 1.77 miles (when I was there a big pile of gravel served as a marker). Stay
to the left, and at the next junction, at 1.84 miles, veer right (you
should notice planted vegetation on the right, and the portable toilet may also
be visible). At the next two junctions turn left, and then just before
an ugly industrial plant at the park property, turn right. The broad trail
descends toward the trailhead, to a junction at 2.11 miles, back at the information
signboard and the hike's first junction. Retrace your steps back to the trailhead.
Total distance: 2.13 miles
Last hiked: Thursday, July 25, 2002
Go to Bay Area Hiker Home page
is still under development by the East Bay Regional Bay District, parts of the
park resemble a construction site, with heavy machinery and old slabs of concrete
strewn about. But a paved mile-long trail running along the shoreline is clean
and peaceful, if you aren't too bothered by planes landing and taking off from
adjacent Oakland Airport. 
grade
the trail skirts a hilltop, through grassland overrun with fennel. You may notice
a sequence of numbered posts, part of a short loop through the center of the park.
Thankfully walking in this direction the industrial area is at your back. At 0.11
mile a dirt path departs to the left. Continue straight. You'll draw near
to a collection of planted vegetation including eucalyptus and cottonwood, on
the right. At 0.17 mile, the first of two trails breaks off to the right, heading
to a picnic area (and the portable toilets). Continue straight on the pavement.
As the trail descends a bit, there are sweeping views south of the bay and the
San Leandro Marina area. A trail heads right (the numbered posts and the short
loop goes with it). Continue straight. Where the trail reaches the riprap-enforced
shoreline, a dirt path feeds in from the left. Bear right. An old fence
sets a trail border on the right, but there are some broken segments with paths
heading uphill, as well as more substantial (but unsigned) junctions with established
trails. Continue on 
the
paved trail. Airplane traffic to and from Oakland Airport is constant. A small
amount of vegetation is squeezed in along the trail -- the usual shoreline community
of mustard, poison hemlock, dock, fennel, and coyote brush, with some invasive
thistles, including yellow star. Benches are placed every so often on the right,
and you can sit, eat lunch, and enjoy the view across the bay to the peninsula
and Santa Cruz Mountains. Look for jackrabbits in the grassland on the right,
where old dumped concrete sections jut up from the weeds. As the trail makes its
way north, the airport buildings come into view. I was tired of the airport and
wanted to explore the grassland, so instead of continuing to the end of the paved
trail (the usual pattern for most visitors, and of course, an option for your
walk), I decided to check out an alternate route. At 1.32 miles, just past a bench
on the left, the paved trail swings left, and a broad dirt trail veers right and
uphill. Turn right onto the dirt trail.