Quarry
Lakes Regional Recreation Area & Alameda Creek Regional Trail,
East Bay Regional Park District,
Alameda County
In brief:
3.3 mile level loop around man-made ponds in Fremont's residential outskirts.
Getting there:
From Interstate 880 in Alameda County, exit Decoto Road (exit 21). Drive east
on Decoto a little more than 1 mile, then turn south (right) onto Paseo Padre
Parkway. Drive about 0.7 mile, then turn left onto Isherwood Way. Almost immediately,
just past the bridge over Alameda Creek, turn right into the signed Isherwood
Staging Area parking lot. (Note: if you want to park inside Quarry Lakes, continue
past the Isherwood Staging Area, about 0.6 mile to the main park entrance on the
right. There is a fee to park inside the recreation area.)
Trailhead details:
No parking or entrance fees (at this trailhead -- there is a $5 entrance fee if
you park inside Quarry Lakes, and a $2 fee for dogs). Paved parking lot with 34
parking spots. There are 2 designated handicapped parking spots, and some of the
trails are suitable for wheelchairs. Portable toilet, maps, and drinking water
at the edge of the parking lot, with more developed facilities inside Quarry Lakes.
Pay phones inside Quarry Lakes, near the main entrance. This park/trail is accessible
by public transportation. Visit the Transit
Info website for details.
Gas, food, and lodging:
Gas, stores, and restaurants a few miles northwest on Decoto Road. No camping.
Distance, category, and difficulty:
This 3.3 mile loop hike is very easy. Trails are almost perfectly
flat.
Rules:
Park hours fluctuate with the seasons, but generally Quarry Lakes is open from
sunrise to sunset. Alameda Creek Trail has a curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Dogs
are permitted on this hike. They are allowed, on leash only, in Quarry Lakes.
On Alameda Creek Trail dogs are permitted (gravel side only) under voice control.
The Official Story:
EBRPD's
Quarry Lakes
page
EBRPD's Alameda
Creek Trail page
EBRPD's
Quarry Lakes brochure (pdf)
EBRPD's
Alameda Creek brochure (pdf)
Map Choices:
• Use AAA's San Francisco Bay Region map to get there.
• Quarry Lakes map
from EBRPD (download the pdf)
• Alameda Creek Regional Trail map
from EBRPD (download the pdf)
• 
South Bay
Trails, by Jean Rusmore, Betsy Crowder, and Frances Spangle (order
this book from Amazon.com) has a simple map and trail descriptions
of Alameda Creek Trail.
• The Bay
Trail website has photos and descriptions of Alameda Creek Trail.
Quarry
Lakes in a nutshell -- a printable, text-only guide to the featured
hike.
View
photos from this hike.
Quarry Lakes, one of the newest bay area parks, is a 462
acre 
destination
hosting hiking, swimming, boating, and fishing. Old quarry pits, now filled with
water, form the heart of the recreation area. Two lakes are designated for fishing
(with one area set aside for swimming), and another pond and slough are reserved
for wildlife, with no water contact permitted. A handful of short trails circuit
the ponds, making Quarry Lakes a good track for a daily run or stroll. Alameda
Creek Trail runs along one side of the park boundary, permitting a Quarry Lakes
hike (or run) to be extended for many miles either northeast to Niles, or west
toward Coyote Hills.
The wildlife population is already surprisingly varied
and healthy. You'll probably see familiar park creatures such as geese and squirrels,
but the recreation area is also a haven for kestrels, great blue herons, ducks,
deer, and jackrabbits. There's not much vegetation, but the park district has
planted some appropriate trees, including blue elderberry and coast live oak.
If you want to make a day of it at Quarry Lakes,
the best place to start is the main park entrance. 
You'll
find plenty of parking, and access to picnic areas, changing rooms, restrooms,
volleyball courts, fish cleaning stations, and the swim complex. For a quick walk
or run, you can enter the park (without paying the $4 entry fee) via Alameda Creek
Trail, starting at the Isherwood Staging Area.
Begin at the eastern edge of the parking lot,
on wide gravel Alameda Creek Trail. Quarry Lakes' Californio Trail is visible
on the left, but a tall fence blocks access from this point; you must enter through
a gate about 1/2 mile down the trail. Flat Alameda Creek Trail is partially shaded
by mostly exotic trees, including locust, peppertree, pine, and eucalyptus, although
there are a few coast live oaks, sycamores, and cottonwoods. Alameda Creek, on
the right, is usually just a damp trickle where you might see geese, ducks, and
shorebirds picking their way through the mud. At 0 .56 mile, turn left and
enter Quarry Lakes through a gate.
Turn right onto signed Wood Duck Trail.
The broad multi-use trail edges 
past
Willow Slough, where you might see groups of deer feeding on tender young leaves.
After rising slightly, the trail levels out and curves left. Lago Los Osos sprawls
on the right, and often hundreds of birds can be spotted on a thin island in the
middle of the lake. To the left in Willow Slough, look for kestrels and great
blue herons. An interpretive display near a bench explains the park's riparian
restoration effort. After a straight stretch, Wood Duck Trail ends at 0.94 mile.
Turn right, walk a few feet, then turn right again, onto Old Creek Trail.
The flat and wide trail is open to hikers, cyclists,
and equestrians. With water on both sides it feels like a levee path. In spring
and summer you might notice a yellow flowered shrub called tree tobacco, which
is common near watercourses. Yellow bush lupine and thistles also line the trail.
At 1.40 miles, Old Creek Trail ends at a signed junction. Turn right onto Western
Pacific Trail.
BART tracks sit just over the park boundary to the
left, and trains regularly buzz past. As the level multi-use trail winds south,
look for jackrabbits scampering through mustard, grass, and poison hemlock. Red-winged
blackbirds are common. In spring, you might get a glimpse of little fuzzy goose
babies tottering between protective parents. At 1.96 miles, Western Pacific Trail
ends at the park boundary and Niles Gate. Go through the gate, then turn right.
Back on flat Alameda Creek Trail, you'll have an
easy walk back toward the staging area. At 2.62 miles you'll pass Sequoia Bridge,
on the left, and then at 2.72 miles, you'll reach the previously encountered junction
with the gate into Quarry Lakes. Continue straight back to the trailhead.
Total distance: 3.28 miles
Last hiked: Friday, April 26, 2002
Go to Bay Area Hiker Home page
destination
hosting hiking, swimming, boating, and fishing. Old quarry pits, now filled with
water, form the heart of the recreation area. Two lakes are designated for fishing
(with one area set aside for swimming), and another pond and slough are reserved
for wildlife, with no water contact permitted. A handful of short trails circuit
the ponds, making Quarry Lakes a good track for a daily run or stroll. Alameda
Creek Trail runs along one side of the park boundary, permitting a Quarry Lakes
hike (or run) to be extended for many miles either northeast to Niles, or west
toward Coyote Hills. 
You'll
find plenty of parking, and access to picnic areas, changing rooms, restrooms,
volleyball courts, fish cleaning stations, and the swim complex. For a quick walk
or run, you can enter the park (without paying the $4 entry fee) via Alameda Creek
Trail, starting at the Isherwood Staging Area.
past
Willow Slough, where you might see groups of deer feeding on tender young leaves.
After rising slightly, the trail levels out and curves left. Lago Los Osos sprawls
on the right, and often hundreds of birds can be spotted on a thin island in the
middle of the lake. To the left in Willow Slough, look for kestrels and great
blue herons. An interpretive display near a bench explains the park's riparian
restoration effort. After a straight stretch, Wood Duck Trail ends at 0.94 mile.
Turn right, walk a few feet, then turn right again, onto Old Creek Trail.