The Bay Area Ridge Trail (shortened as Ridge Trail) is a multi-use trail along the hill and mountain

ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

lines surrounding the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

, in

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

. It is planned to extend ; , have been established. When complete, the trail will connect over seventy-five parks and open spaces. The trail is being developed to provide access for hikers, runners, mountain bicyclists, and

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

s. It is intended to be accessible through trailheads near major population centers, but the trail extends into more remote areas. The first trail section was dedicated on May 13, 1989.

History

William Penn Mott Jr., the twelfth director of the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

, gave a speech in March 1987 at a state parks and recreation conference and discussed plans for the Ridge Trail. While working for the

East Bay Regional Park District The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) is a Special-purpose district, special district operating in Alameda County, California, Alameda County and Contra Costa County, California, within the East Bay (California), East Bay area of the San Fra ...

in the 1960s, Mott's office was on a

line in the East Bay, and the views from the office inspired his vision of a hill-and-ridge trail encircling the Bay and linking its communities. The plan would later attract bipartisan support, with George Miller joining Mott. In May 1987, the Greenbelt Alliance held a meeting to strategize how to approach the San Francisco Water Department and convince them to open their watershed lands to the public; Mark Evanoff convened the meeting and Brian O'Neill, Superintendent of the

Golden Gate National Recreation Area The Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) is a U.S. National Recreation Area protecting of ecologically and historically significant landscapes surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area. Much of the park is land formerly used by the Unite ...

, proposed a potential strategy to pursue the goals outlined in the report by the President's Commission on Americans Outdoors. Later that year, a planning committee was formed with memberships from nearly forty public agencies, recreation groups, and individuals. Eventually, this committee became the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council. Dinesh Desai, a retired engineer, and Bob Cowell, a retired fire chief, completed the first hike of the Ridge Trail in 1999. The pair followed designated and non-designated trails, including a crossing of the

Carquinez Strait The Carquinez Strait (; Spanish: ''Estrecho de Carquinez'') is a narrow tidal strait located in the Bay Area of Northern California, United States. It is part of the tidal estuary of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers as they drain int ...

by kayak.

Trail development

The first two segments of the trail, dedicated on May 13, 1989, were located in

San Mateo County San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City, California, Redwood City is th ...

and managed by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District and the San Mateo County Department of Parks.

Marin County Marin County ( ) is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is ac ...

and San Francisco City and County opened their first segments in September 1989; Napa, Solano, and Santa Clara counties in October 1989; Contra Costa and Alameda counties in June 1990; and

Sonoma County Sonoma County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...

in October 1990. Existing trails in public spaces were incorporated into the Ridge Trail, extending the trail to by 1990 and by 1995. By 1999, of the Ridge Trail had been completed, mostly on public lands. of the Ridge Trail were added in 2005, including a new bridge over

San Geronimo Creek San Geronimo Creek is a stream in Marin County, California, United States, which feeds into Lagunitas Creek below Kent Lake. Course The creek rises in the hills west of the town of Fairfax. It descends northward to Woodacre, where it turns ...

; at that point, the Ridge Trail ran for . The section of Ridge Trail through Crockett Hills Regional Park in Contra Costa County, which opened in June 2006, pushed the trail past the mark. , the Ridge Trail stood at completed. The section of the trail that runs through San Francisco has been completed, and parts of the San Francisco trail have been rerouted to pass through more green space and over the

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Surrealist cinema, surrealist Mystery film, mystery-Horror film, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It Pilot (Twin Peaks), premiered on American Broad ...

. Large sections of the trail running through San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa, and Alameda counties have been completed. Much of the remaining mileage is on

private property Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental Capacity (law), legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property, which is owned by a state entity, and from Collective ownership ...

in Santa Clara, Sonoma, and Napa.

Route

Starting at the

Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in California, United States. The structure links San Francisco—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peni ...

and proceeding clockwise, the route goes through every Bay Area county: Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, and

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. The planned alignment of the Ridge Trail extends as far north as Calistoga and Angwin, and as far south as Gilroy.

San Francisco City and County

From south to north, the trail passes through the following landmarks:

Lake Merced Lake Merced () is a freshwater lake located on the West Side of San Francisco, in the southwest corner of the city. It is surrounded by three golf courses (the private Olympic Club and San Francisco Golf Club, and the public TPC Harding Park), as ...

, Stern Grove,

, Buena Vista Park, the panhandle of

Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park is an urban park between the Richmond District, San Francisco, Richmond and Sunset District, San Francisco, Sunset districts on the West Side (San Francisco), West Side of San Francisco, California, United States. It is the Lis ...

, and the Presidio.

Bay Area Ridge Trail Council

The Bay Area Ridge Trail Council (BARTC), founded in 1987, is the organization building, maintaining, and promoting the Ridge Trail. BARTC initially was supported by the Greenbelt Alliance, but it was incorporated in 1991 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit under co-chairs Brian O'Neill and Marcia McNally. The Council office is located in

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

References

Bibliography

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External links