Bay Bridge Trail

See a different side of San Francisco’s illustrious bay during a 6-mile (9.6 km) roundtrip stroll, jog or bike ride on the East Span of the Bay Bridge, from the suburb of Oakland to Yerba Buena Island, in the heart of the East Bay.

The Bay Bridge originally opened in 1936, just a few months before the Golden Gate Bridge. Though not as iconic as its younger sister across the way, the Bay Bridge boasts double decker lanes that carry an astounding 270,000 cars a day. Its East Span is the world’s longest bridge-span supported by a single tower (a span of 2,047 ft | 624 m).

And its West Span, by San Francisco, is quite the sight to see come evening time when 25,000 LED lights put on a dazzling light show all through the night.

Sept-mid March: Sat-Sun, 7am to 6pm, generally
Mid March-May: Sat-Sun, 7am to 8pm
June-Aug: Sat-Sun, 6am to 9pm

Free 5-hour parking at the Bridge Yard Building (210 Burma Road, Oakland), short walk to the trailhead nearby

BART + Shuttle: MacArthur BART station, then take the free Emery-Go-Round shuttle to Shellmound St & Bay St, which is right in front of a bright blue Ikea store. Across the street from Ikea is the Bay Bridge trailhead. The shuttle is free, has a bike rack and runs every 10-20 minutes on Sat, 8:15am-10:10pm; Sun, 9am-7:10pm. View schedule.

There is not much to do or see on Yerba Buena Island or Treasure Island nearby; so I suggest viewing the island as a turn-around point, not a destination.