Walking the Dog at the Baylands

Baylands Nature Preserve, Palo Alto

“Here is his library, but his study is out of doors.” – The maid of William Woodsworth

Directions: Freeway 101 to Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto; east to where the road splits. Turn right one block and turn into the Byxbee Park parking lot.

Grade: Easy and level.

Distance: Five miles.

Time: Two hours.

Special Conditions: Dogs on leash allowed except where posted. Dress for windy weather.

Well, the good news is that our son Scott returns home from deployment in the Persian Gulf two months early—the first week of March instead of May. We (the extended family) will all gather in San Diego March 8 to greet the ship after a seven-month assignment.

The bad news is that good dog Mack, our four-footed houseguest during the past seven months, also returns to San Diego, and he won’t be coming back. Seems that the reconstructed family of Major Davids needs Mack to complete the picture.

Since last November, we have featured eight dog walks; this one makes nine. Pulgas Ridge, Bair Island, Big Canyon Park, Long Ridge, Windy Hill, Butano State Park, Foothills, Coal Creek, Montara Mountain, and the Baylands have entertained Mack from the seashore to the ridgelines. And we hope that our readers have found these to be great places to hike with or without a dog. For copies of these and many other dog walks, go to www.weeklywalker.com and click on the “Interest” bar and then the “Dog Walks” button.

For a good review of dog walks and dog-friendly places to stay and dine in the Bay Area, purchase a copy of “The Dog Lover’s Companion to the Bay Area” by Maria Goodavage, published by Avalon Travel Publishing, Inc.

This week’s walk is on the Adobe Creek Trail, a five-mile hike in and out along a continuous levee. The sloughs on the west of the levee are fed by Matadero Creek and Adobe Creek as they drain to the Bay with the slough acting as a flood control basin. Water flow between the basin and the Bay is regulated by a water gate on the trail. Pick up a copy of the Baylands map, and study it as you go along.

The Palo Alto Baylands were reshaped in the 1920s when the city began a series of development projects designed to convert the wetlands to “usable” space. Over time, the area was dredged and reshaped to accommodate a saltwater swimming pool (now a duck pond), a yacht club and harbor (now removed), an airport, a golf course, sanitary landfill, a wastewater processing facility, and various office and commercial buildings. Today the Baylands covers 1,940 acres, of which 1,600 acres are protected in the nature preserve. The preserve includes salt marsh and mudflat habitats, which are home to the endangered California clapper rail and the salt marsh harvest mouse.

This walk is excellent year-round for bird-watchng, but especially in the spring and fall, when migrating birds stop over on their way up and down the Pacific flyway. From the parking lot at the foot of Byxbee Park, take the Adobe Creek Trail east. You can also walk up into Byxbee Park with its interesting assortment of environmental art, but that will be the subject of a future hike.

The Adobe Creek Trail continues next to the mudflats and cordgrass along the base of Byxbee Park and its field of poles. Go straight at the junction with Mayfield Slough on your right. Ahead is the water gate that controls water in and out of San Francisco Bay. As you turn right and walk over the gate, notice a fine bench on your left that offers clear views of the boat launch on Harriet Mundy Marsh and the East Bay world beyond.

Walking over the water gate, you will see an assortment of floaters (tennis balls, beach balls and so forth) that were carried by creek waters from the hills to the west.

The trail continues for about two miles along the levee. The huge hangars at Moffett and the white tent spires at Shoreline Ampitheater loom larger as you walk along. As the trail turns west, the Charleston Slough is on your left with the Mountain View Slough beyond.

Instructional display boards are at trailside with brief descriptions of the real world of mudflats and sloughs.

The trail comes to a “Y” with Mountain View’s Shoreline Park to your left and East Bayshore Road a half-mile on your right.

If you are walking the dog, you are not welcome in Shoreline Park, so you may turn back as we did or walk along East Bayshore Road (Renzel Trail) and loop back to Embarcadero Road and the trailhead.

The Baylands is a prime walking area. This trail, Byxbee Park, the Marsh Front Trail, and San Francisquito Creek Trail will give you many miles of pleasurable close-in hiking year around.

Foot Note: Your comments and hiking suggestions are always welcome.

E-mail to: tom@tomdavids.com