San Leandro’s Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline built on landfill
Dedicated a park in 1980, today Oyster Bay has been reborn as a 157-acre recreational area that billows out into the bay with a salt marsh, meadows, panoramic views, native plants and landscaped picnic areas.
(Be sure to keep dogs on a leash on the paved trails or you may get a citation.) You will find a drinking fountain near the entrance on Neptune Drive and a restroom a short distance down the nature trail.
On a happier note, you will pass toyon shrubs, buckeye trees and other natives on the way to a rise with a gorgeous view.
Here you see Roger Berry’s dramatic sculpture “Rising Wave,” which is made up of a series of poles angled to look like a swelling wave.
The trail crosses the bright green Bill Lockyer Bridge, a pedestrian bridge over San Leandro Slough, connecting Oyster Bay with Bay Trail segments in Oakland to the north.
If you don’t want to retrace your steps, you can take the dirt paths back to the park entrance.
About half a mile south of Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline is the San Leandro Marina, with restaurants, picnic areas, restrooms and even a golf course.
At the south end of the marina is Marina Park, which sports a gorgeous shoreline trail reaching into the bay with an 18-station par course.
If you want to know which of the par stations are the most fun, check out the ones crowded with children using them as playgrounds.
Gail Todd is the author of “Lunchtime Walks in Downtown San Francisco” and a tour leader for San Francisco City Guides.