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Bicycle and Pedestrian Path - Bay Bridge

4.0 (48 reviews)
Open 6:00 am - 9:00 pm

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No wide pedestrians allowed!
Tracey A.

THE GOOD * You can now walk (or bike or run) halfway across the new span of the Bay Bridge. * The views as you walk are unique and photo-worthy. I kept feeling like I was someplace other than the Bay Area (New York? Seattle?). There's a point at which you see Yerba Buena Island, the old unused span of the Bay Bridge, the old in-use span, the new span, and San Francisco. It's trippy and cool and worth viewing. * Free, easy parking beside the Bay Trail path in Oakland (Burma Street). Follow this trail straight to the bridge entrance (1.25 miles). * Benches, should you wish to sit a while. THE NOT SO GOOD * The path is LOUD. There's a ton of cars racing by and you won't forget it. You might even get a splitting headache as a result. Oddly, the sound level seems more manageable when you reach the portion of the span with the bridge cables. It's much nicer once that happens. * The path isn't very wide. There's a lane for inbound bikers, a lane for outbound bikers, and a lane for all pedestrians. The pedestrian lane is just big enough for 2 people to walk in side by side but not if you both walk with your hands on your hips and not if your dog wants to walk beside you both. * There's no restrooms on the path. There's some port-a-potties on the trail before you reach the bridge. Use them. * Your dog might not adore this path. There's the noise thing but also no trees, bushes, or plants. * No skating, no skateboarding, no motorized bikes. * The path has a closing time. Plan accordingly. You can be ticketed if you're not off the path by closing time. * No suicide barrier. I honestly don't know which category this observation belongs in. ACCESS The Bay Bridge Trail is accessible via the Bay Trail from Emeryville and Oakland. Beginning in Emeryville adds one mile each way to your journey, resulting in an 8+ mile round-trip hike. Parking in Oakland shaves off 2 miles. There's a designated "Bay Trail Parking" area beside the Bay Trail on Burma Road in Oakland. The parking area is easy to get to, free, and seemed safe. Signs directing you to the bridge are well placed and clearly marked. The path stops short of Yerba Buena Island and, from there, you turn around and retrace your steps. Signs posted at the beginning of the path say it's 2.4 miles in each direction and takes about 2 hours to walk to the end and back. Those signs proved accurate. MISCELLANY As you walk, ponder all of the possible uses for the old Bay Bridge span: A bay area High Line perhaps? For me, this is a 1&done journey. It's interesting and worth doing but I won't be doing it again, on foot, until I can walk the length of the bridge into the City. When it goes all the way into SF I imagine it'll have a horde of bicycle commuters. Here's hoping they widen the next portion of the path they open.

Old and new
Tim L.

Wow, super tough to navigate to due to the construction on Burma Road, which is the parking location near the bridge. Good thing I'm a former Bay Area resident and kinda knew where to go since GPS was trying to route me to Treasure Island only to U-turn and come back. But ... I found my way through the train tracks and eventually found a sign for the Bay Bridge trail. Then it was an easy drive to the parking lot. I'm glad I did the walk although I don't think it's worth repeating. Why? It's just plain loud once you're parallel to the new bridge due to road traffic. Of course I expected the noise but thought I might be able to ignore it a bit. Didn't work. I went on a Sunday afternoon and there were only a handful of other walkers/bikers present. Maybe I saw 30 people total? It's about 2.6 miles each way to the turn around point. There's decent views of Oakland and San Francisco from the walkway. I have to say it's interesting to see the old bridge, that I drove over thousands of times, so close up and in such a state of destruction. The birds are digging living below the old bridge now that there's no traffic! Go and check it out. Definitely worth a one-time walk.

Kristina A.

Hah !!! Finally 4 months after the Bike and Pedestrian Path opened to the public i was able to experience it. Weather was perfect for a nice Sunday walk. Getting there is easy. We parked at Burma Rd. parking lot where they have easy access to the entrance of the trail. Parking is free for 5 hrs. Before you can even get to the Bridge itself you will have to walk for about 2miles then another 2miles to walk to the Bridge. The path does not run through the entire bridge. It stops right before yerba buena / treasure island . Probably couple more years before they can add the additional path. They need to clear the old bridge first before they can build the new path. There is another access point near the Ikea / Emeryville area. I might try that path next time. Ikea / Emeryville to Maritime Path --- 1.5 miles Maritime to end of Path --- 3.4 miles It was indeed a very nice and relaxing walk (the noise from the cars crossing the bridge did not bother me) Amazing view of the new tower on the bridge. A lot of walkers and bikers of all ages. Although the rules said that skateboards are not allowed there are still people who does not follow. Benches are available for people who needs to take a rest. (2 benches per call box) I would definitely walk again here. But make sure that you go to the bathroom first before you start your walk. There are no restrooms on the bridge path only the portable ones before you get on the bridge (which can be very dirty, smelly and filthy by the end of the day). Bring a bottle of water, use sunblock, and bring sunglasses with you.

Kim D.

Good place to go for a casual stroll on a nice day or an early morning run/bike ride. You'll definitely get your workout in for the day, since a round-trip starting from Ikea is a little over 8 miles. That's like doing a 10k and then some! We were sneaky and parked at Ikea, but that probably isn't the best idea for avoiding tickets. We found out that there was free parking for the bay trail at Burma/Ward Ave, so I'll definitely make not of that for next time. Some negatives - the smell from the wastewater treatment plant at the beginning of the trail isn't the very pleasant. And it can get pretty loud with all the cars zooming by you. It's also not a very wide trail, so beware of speedy bikers if you're walking. But! They have benches all along the trail in case you need a short break or want to take in the view more.

Emeryville entrance to Bay Bridge pedestrian/bicycle path. Note that the total distance is 4.9 miles each way, or 9.8 miles roundtrip.
Liz B.

This is a great walk but there are a few things you need to know: (1) You will not get any sweeping vistas of the city, the bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island, or any of those other postcard views. The path is on the southeast side of the bridge, so mostly what you will see is whatever remains of the old bridge, the Oakland skyline, and the East Bay hills. Why some genius put the path on that side of the bridge is beyond me. The cars get all the best views. (2) The walk across the bridge from the Emeryville entrance point (which you will have to use when the parking lot is closed, as it often is, at the Oakland entrance) is about 10 miles round trip, more than half of which is walking along next to the freeway until you get to the toll plaza. (People refer to it as a 4-mile path, but is 4.9 miles EACH WAY from Emeryville. I am posting a photo of the trail sign.) (3) The only bathrooms are porta-potties near the toll plaza. Remember, you will be walking 10 miles, which means you need to drink water. And when you drink water, you need to pee. Plan accordingly. (4) Bring earplugs. The noise from the traffic, especially when you are on the actual bridge, is deafening. Having whined about all of the above, I must say that I am not sorry I did it and I would do it again -- with better planning.

The Bay Bridge pedestrian path was built on the wrong side of the bridge.  The non-highway side is all industrial port wasteland
Fred W.

One of the most disappointing outings I can remember. They put the path on the wrong side of the bridge!!! The entire pedestrian bike path leading up to the new Bay Bridge is surrounded on one side by 16 lanes of highway and on the other by barbed wire, CalTrans infrastructure and the industrial port of Oakland There isn't even the birding allure of a garbage dump or wastewater treatment facility. It's kinda like walking/biking along a busy highway through an industrial hellhole. No, wait, it's not like that, it IS that. And then, when you actually get on the bridge, you get a view of ... Yes more of the port of Oakland! Woohoo! And you'll get to see even more paved tarmac with idling diesel trucks once they remove the rusting hulk of the old bridge. Why oh why didn't they put this on the other side of the bridge??!? You'd have the same highway noise/air, but at least the north side of the approach to bridge is ringed with wide open salt marshes, so you'd get an expansive view of the whole northern half of the Bay, with Angel Island, Mt, Tam, and even the Golden Gate in the near distance, and you would have gotten close up views of lots of wildlife, especially at low tide. Add this to the LONG list of tragic misuses of public funds, hopes, and dreams with this new bridge. Can we get them to build another one, please? (Yeah right).

Up close and personal with the suspension tower.
Sean S.

I'm glad a pedestrian and bike trail were added to the design of the new Bay Bridge. The Golden Gate bridge has had one from the beginning, and it gives you the ability to be up close and feel the weight and art in a way that just doesn't kick in as you wiz by in your car (or creep as sometimes happens). The trail won't get you all the way to the island yet, they can't do that until the old bridge is removed, but it's still a good trip as far as it will go. I especially like watching the old bridge in various stages of deconstruction. After driving across the old span for so many years it's almost surreal to be alongside it. Once you are on the bridge itself the path is marked off into three sections. East and west bound bicycles and foot traffic. If you are on a bike be wary of the pedestrians, I've found they walk darn near anywhere and stop in clumps to look at the sights. According to RunKeeper starting from the Maritime parking lot, going up to the end of the trail on the bridge, riding back along the trail and all the way to Ikea, and then turing around and going back to the parking lot is just about 9 miles. That's a pleasant ride. Just remember that this is a tall unprotected structure across a very cold waterway. Even on hot days the breeze can get quite cold. So layer up!

Pantera W.

So a couple of days after the Napa quake, thought it was time to try the new, improved Bay Bridge via cycle. There's a route which starts at the IKEA in Emeryville but don't park there; they hate it. Either that or bring grandma to sit in the IKEA restaurant for an hour or so while you go cycling. An easier alternative is the mall next door which costs $3 for 4 hours. (It's got a large AMC sign on it) Once you get going, the route is very well marked, taking you past some exciting looking industrial plants and whatnot. They have made a lovely effort with planting mainly drought resistant plants along the route to beautify it. According to the sign, it takes 3.5 hours round trip to walk it. We cycled, taking less than an hour for a leisurely jaunt. There are both dedicated walking and cycling lanes so don't worry if walking, about getting hit by an errant cyclist, too much. There is a bathroom or two about halfway of the 4 mile journey for those with excitable dispositions. At approximately the 2 mile mark, the slope goes up continuously which is a slight effort for the casual cyclist. You'll know when you reach the end as there is a posted Guard and Gate. The views are good but, Madam, you are no Goldengate. The freewheel down at the end is spectacular fun, especially on the day we went free of traffic. And at the end there's the promise of those IKEA meatballs....

Beautiful morning
Jason S.

I only write this for the scenery alone...hate the traffic etc of the Bay Area but every time I get across this bridge after the toll gates of course nothing but beauty and cool stuff to look at....it is very peaceful to see the ships out in the water or the golden gate either way it brings a portion of calmness to all the crazy people that drive through here.

Information regarding shuttle pickup at SF end of Bay Bridge Trail

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6 years ago

Our family had a great time riding from oakland to treasure isle! Easy ride, well constructed path...

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Great pedestrian walkway. Nice views. Excellent exercise opportunity. But why must it close so early?

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9 years ago

Great view lovely walk. Took me forever to knock it off my list but I did it. I enjoyed it too!

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You can also check out the Coast Guard's digs below the end of the official bike path at Yerba Buena Island.

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Yerba Buena Island - Arial of Yerba Buena Island

Yerba Buena Island

3.8(21 reviews)
0.7 mi

This island has its growing pains... but if you are patient - I have a feeling this will be a…read morepleasant place to live one day soon. This island is the underdog of San Francisco. As far as I know it was polluted from government military stuff similarly to Hunters Point - really bad stuff - even radio active.... I'm no stranger to the island and I sniff around and enjoy the views from here often - but probably not a place I would want to live anytime soon. There are efforts to clean things up and tear stuff down and I do believe this will be a great place to be soon. I suppose if you want to buy in before it explodes - this might be a good time. There is one little convenience store upon entering, Gold Bar (in a shipping container), Mersea (restaurant in shipping container) and then a beautiful place called Gold Bar distillery. I'm sure there is more coming and possible I missed something small. In front of Gold Bar distillery - ive seen many times tent pop ups and events. Really, I know this island for wedding events - I'm sure its a good value and the views are unbeatable.

The constructions in the area is finally done! My family and I finally got to visit the newly…read moreopened US Navy Reservoir 162, panoramic park with a stunning view of San Francisco Bay area on Christmas day! I liked it that it wasn't crowded as this place is fairly new. I can stay here all day and enjoy the scenery! It is also basically next to Treasure Island. I can't wait to come back during the summer when the weather is warmer! Parking is limited and there is no bathroom. But a quick stop to snap some stunning pictures if you are in the area. I was thankful there were no fogs or rain here during our visit that I can see a clear view of the beautiful city of San Francisco Bay! I left my heart in San Francisco!

Photos
Yerba Buena Island - Clipper Cove - YBI and Treasure Island

Clipper Cove - YBI and Treasure Island

Yerba Buena Island - Lined up for the off-ramp

Lined up for the off-ramp

Yerba Buena Island - View from US Navy Reservoir 162 walkway.

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View from US Navy Reservoir 162 walkway.

Bicycle and Pedestrian Path - Bay Bridge - localflavor - Updated May 2026

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