The Bay Area Ridge Trail is an as yet unfinished course that will go entirely around the San Francisco Bay Area in California. I am hiking it in sections that amount to about a day or half-day trip each. I’ll also provide some information on the existing gaps and possible ways to bridge them until the trail itself is complete.
More information on the trail can be found at ridgetrail.org, the website of the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council.
August 31, 2013
I’ve decided to begin walking the Bay Area Ridge Trail and chronicle it here. This is an explanation of what the trail is, along with some information on my particular route. The Bay Area Ridge Trail (which I’m generally going to refer to as the BART Bay Area Rapid Transit is quicker...September 1, 2013
This is a section of trail I’ve both walked and biked many times directly from my house, so it was naturally a good place to start the circuit of the BART. Just past the trail’s start are the percolation ponds that replenish groundwater and feed Penitencia Creek in the dryer months. ...September 2, 2013
The previous section ends close to the actual Coyote Creek, so finding the path is a matter of trying to stay close to it while traveling to the point where the Coyote Creek Trail begins. Penitencia Creek flows under King and then drains into Coyote Creek just south of Berryessa Road, but there...September 3, 2013
The trail begins at the signal light near the entrance to the Tully Branch Library. After a short walk past a parking lot the creekside trail begins. Here, as at many sections of the trail, access to the creek itself is prohibited by signs periodically posted on the paved trail. After a short r...September 4, 2013
The middle of the Coyote Creek trail is one of the splits on the trail. From here, there is a large spur to the south that loops all the way to Gilroy before rejoining the trail only a short distance away on another ridge. The route that more directly connects the trail breaks off here toward t...September 6, 2013
The trail begins on a high point and is the first real ridge on my BART route. Immediately ahead is Coyote Peak, identifiable from south San Jose by its radio tower. A gravel service road (which is also the trail) runs down and up some small hills to the peak. It’s worth walking around ...