Two Short Bayside Trails for the Whole Family

The SamTrans Trail, South San Francisco

The Sun-Micro Trail, Menlo Park

“For more than a century, much of the bay had been regarded as little more than ordinary real estate that happened to be inconveniently and temporarily covered by water. - Joseph E. Bodovitz, 1985

Directions: For the Sam Trans Trail: Take Hwy 101 to North Access Road and continue east for one mile. Turn left into the SamTrans bus maintenance facility and left again into the outer parking lot. Seventeen spaces are designated for “public access. For the Sun-Micro Trail: Take Hwy 101 to Marsh Road (Menlo Park). Go east to the first intersection, and turn right on Bayfront Express Way. Continue to Willow Road, and turn left into the Sun-Micro facility. Take the first right, and follow the perimeter road along the parking lot to a stop sign. Don’t go straight, and don’t take a hard right (you’ll be back on Bayfront Expressway). Rather, cross the intersection on the diagonal to a small parking lot and the start of this public access trail.

Grade: Both trails are level.

Distance: About one mile (loop or double back).

Time: 30 minutes, or as long as you like.

Special Conditions: Both trails are asphalt and in good condition. The bay breeze can be brisk, so bring a windbreaker or layered clothing. Birdwatchers will want their binoculars and field guide.

Both of these trails are ideal for the whole family and can be enjoyed by all ages without regard to physical limitations. Babies in strollers, kids on tricycles, youngsters on bikes, and oldsters using walkers will enjoy these friendly asphalt trails.

The SamTrans Trail runs along the perimeter of the SamTrans North Base Maintenance Facility. This facility was constructed in the late 1980s to handle maintenance and storage requirements of buses serving the north part of San Mateo County. A condition of construction was that the District would build a public access trail. As a bonus, SamTrans included a parcourse along this trail with 12 well-placed stations, should you feel the need to do chin-ups, leg raises, squats, and so on along the way. There are also several picnic tables, if you wish to stop for a snack.

On the western side of the SamTrans Peninsula is a vibrant marsh growing next to abandoned World War II shipbuilding piers. The marsh is at the end of Colma Creek, which winds through Daly City, Colma, and South San Francisco before it enters the Bay near the north end of this trail. Along the north side of the peninsula are good views of Mount San Bruno and San Bruno Point, directly across the slough. San Bruno Point is now developed for commerce and industry, but in the 1870s this area was know as China Point, the site of one of the largest Chinese fishing camps on San Francisco Bay.

History tells us that thousands of Chinese workers were released after completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, and many returned to the Bay Area to continue their native vocation of fishing. It is said that some junks would harvest 7,000 pounds of bay shrimp daily. Nothing remains of the camp at Chinese Point, but shrimping and oyster farms were an important part of the country’s economy during the late 1800s.

Along the SamTrans Trail are numerous benches, which invite you to sit and enjoy the birds, the distant views, or the regular departure of planes leaving SFO to the south. Your walk from the northern end of the peninsula offers great views of the Bay and the East Bay hills, including Mount Diablo and Mission Peak.

The Sun-Micro Trail is relatively new, having been built as a part of the Sun-Micro Systems’ large Menlo Park campus. Along the trail, you will enjoy great views in all directions to the north. The hill in the near distance is Bayfront Park, site of the Old Marsh Road dump, and beyond it, you can see all the way to San Francisco and Oakland if the day is clear. The salt evaporation ponds beyond the pickleweed buffer are not only home to winter birds, but they are also the foundation of the salt harvesting industry. The curing process to produce salt from bay water requires five years of interaction between sun and wind. During the five-year curing process, the water moves from pond to pond through 10 stages of evaporation. As the solution ripens, the concentrated brine turns to “pickle.” It is then allowed to dry, the harvest begins, and your 10,000 gallons of bay water has turned into a ton of salt.

The Sun-Micro Trail is not a parcourse, and it doesn’t have picnic tables, but there are a number of rest spots with large boulders and well-placed logs to sit on.

Both of these trails are part of the 400-mile Bay Trail, which someday will circle the San Francisco Bay. Find time soon to enjoy the amzing diversity of wildlife, the sweeping views, the tidal marshes, the salt ponds, and the pungent odors that make these walks a special and always unique experience.

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