Bay Area Ridge Trail - Vallejo to Benicia

Looking south towards Carquinez Strait

For hikers, walkers, cyclists, or horseback riders visiting or living in California's San Francisco Bay Area, the Bay Area Ridge Trail offers spectacular treks along city streets, over bridges, in flats and wetlands, in hills and mountains, in many local and regional parks, and through miles of open space. Much of this network of trails offers views from higher ridges of the bays, rivers, and waterways, while some are closer to the lowlands. It covers the many different types of scenery and ecosystems the Bay Area has to offer. Some of the trails are mellow, some are moderate or moderately difficult, and some are strenuous and adventurous. The idea of the Bay Area Ridge Trail is to connect over 350 miles of trails around the perimeter of the greater Bay Area. All of the segments are not connected. They either have not yet been developed or past segments were taken over by land use changes and private property. However, with the help of some maps and a bit of creative navigation skills, disjunct sections can be pieced together.

Start of the trail overlooking Vallejo

Going back to our idea of traversing a monumentally large hiking journey in small segments over time, my brother started hiking the established Bay Area Ridge Trail as well as improvising his way through the missing segments in between. It soon became his passion and obsession. I was invited to join him on this mission, and started my first segment with him on September 26, 2015. This segment began in the City of Vallejo, which is in the East Bay region of the trail network. The entrance is off of Ascot Parkway near Georgia Street, and the trail goes into open space grasslands known as the Vallejo-Benicia Buffer between Lake Herman Road and Columbus Parkway. The trail is moderately hilly and was an effort for my level of fitness. The effort, however, was worth the views of Suisun Bay to the east, San Pablo Bay to the west, and the Carquinez Strait that connects to the two bays. The birding opportunity was also a huge win as I watched raptors soar over the grasslands in search of prey. I also caught sight of a few of the many beautiful moth and butterfly species that live in or are endemic to the Bay Area.

This trail segment connects Vallejo to the City of Benicia. Staying on the trail is pretty straight forward, with a couple of other trails branching off. At the first juncture, the Bay Area Ridge Trail turns to the right to continue southwest towards the west side of Benicia. This trail ends on Rose Drive, which when taken to the right, goes to the Benicia State Recreation Area.

Tidal wetland in the Benicia State Recreation Area

The next segment of the Bay Area Ridge Trail picks up again at Dillon Point, immediately south of the Benicia State Recreation Area. To connect the two trails, we started walking Dillon Point Road, which borders the tidal wetland this State park preserves. This wetland provides habitat for rare and endangered plants and wildlife, such as the endangered salt-marsh harvest mouse.

We stopped partway after the road turned to the south, since my brother had earlier sustained an injury. Sitting on a bench and taking in the view of the beautiful marsh, we made note of the spot to pick up from for the next segment of our journey. The parents picked us up at that spot and took us to Mountain Mike's Pizza for a bite to eat before driving us back to where we started in Vallejo.