The San Francisco Bay Trail Project

The San Francisco Bay Trail project began as a bold legislative mandate in 1987, when a state senate bill authored by Bill Lockyer directed the regional government to plan a continuous path encircling the entire San Francisco and San Pablo Bays. While the map makes this 500-mile loop look like a single, straightforward line along the water, its creation has been a decades-long exercise in navigating property rights, environmental protection, and complex urban geography. The project does not actually own or operate the land it traverses; instead, it coordinates with hundreds of local, state, and federal agencies to stitch together existing shoreline segments, sidewalks, and bike lanes into one cohesive route. As you stand in Rincon Hill, you are at a key transition point where the trail must connect the dense, industrial-tinged urban waterfront of San Francisco with the broader, sprawling regional network that connects all nine Bay Area counties.