Best Hiking Area Sunnyvale Near Me

4worldlovers:
Welcome to Sunnyvale Baylands Park, operated by the City of Sunnyvale. This park has a unique blending of natural preserved wetland areas, with the picnic and playground features of a traditional community park. Adjacent to the park is the Twin Creeks Sports complex. Baylands Park provides over seventy acres of developed parkland offering active recreation, pathways and picnic areas for families and large groups. An additional 105 acres of seasonal wetlands is protected as a Wetlands Preserve providing habitat for plants and wildlife.

The park is open year-round from 8 a.m. until sunset. County Parks annual vehicle passes are not accepted at this park. Seasonal passes for this park are available through the City of Sunnyvale. A vehicle entry fee is collected at the entrance.

4worldlovers:
Park hours are 6:00 am to 1/2 hour after sunset, unless otherwise noted at park entrance.


All four segments (Reach 1, 2, 3, and 4) of the Creek Trail are open and provide a walking, running, and bicycling trail extending south from the San Francisco Bay Trail to Cabrillo Avenue. The City's Tasman Parking Garage, 2525 Tasman Drive, provides free parking and good trail access. The parking lot is shown by a red "P" on the Creek Trail Map (PDF).


» Reach 1 (Bay Trail to Agnew Road) - 1.76 miles (trail section complete and open)


» Reach 2 (Agnew Road to Scott Boulevard) - 0.84 miles (trail section complete and open)


» Reach 3 (Scott Boulevard to Monroe Street) - 1.25 miles (trail section complete and open)

» Reach 4 (Monroe Street to Pruneridge Avenue) - 4.0 miles (0.2 miles of creek trail section not yet constructed + 3.8 miles of bike lanes and routes that currently exist)

Reach 1 of the Creek Trail extends south from the San Francisco Bay Trail to Agnew Road. This segment provides undercrossings at Highway 237, Old Mountain View-Alviso Road, Great America Parkway, and Tasman Drive in order to provide a continuous trail without users crossing busy streets.

Reach 2 of the Creek Trail extends south from Agnew Road to Scott Boulevard. This segment with undercrossings at Mission College Boulevard, State Highway 101 and Scott Boulevard was opened for public use in May 2006.

Reach 3 is approximately 1.25 miles in length, extending from Scott Boulevard to Monroe Street along the west bank of the San Tomas Aquino Creek, with undercrossings at Central Expressway, Walsh Avenue, and the Caltrain railroad tracks. An at-grade crossing now provides a signalized traffic crossing for trail users to safely cross Monroe Street and connect to the Creek Trailhead where there is a parking lot for users to park. Existing Reaches 1 and 2 combined with Reach 3 total approximately 3.85 miles of trail.

Reach 4 of the Creek Trail extends from the Monroe Street Staging Area to Pruneridge Avenue. This includes the final leg of the off-street trail portion ending at Cabrillo Avenue which was open for public use in October 2009. The Pruneridge Avenue portion of the on street section, ending at the western City limits, is under design for bicycle lanes.

4worldlovers: The Ohlone Indians lived in the Rancho San Antonio area for over 3,000 years prior to the arrival of the Europeans. A large village, known as Partacsi, was located in this general area. An expedition led by Colonel Juan Baptista de Anza passed through this area in March of 1776. Mission Santa Clara de Asis was founded in October of the same year. In 1822, Mexico became independent and the Secularization Act stripped the missions of their holdings. After 1833, land grants were mainly given to army veterans and many ranchos were established. The chief commercial products of the ranchos were cattle hides and tallow. Governor Alvarado granted Rancho San Antonio to Juan Prado Mesa in 1839. This 440-acre rancho was bounded by Adobe Creek to the north and Stevens Creek to the south, and included Permanente Creek. Mesa had been a soldier at the San Francisco Presidio since 1828, served as a corporal in the Santa Clara Guard. Mesa died in 1845. California became part of the United States in 1848 and all land grants issued by the Mexican government became subject to review under U.S. law.