San Lorenzo Creek's Walkable Stretch Starts Where the Creek Ends
Most of us know San Lorenzo Creek as a concrete channel we drive over on Hesperian or Lewelling. The easiest place to walk beside it is at its very end, where it meets the Bay, a short drive down Grant Avenue. A trail plan known as the San Lorenzo Creekway would extend a walk like that one upstream along the creek's flood-control road. That part is still in design, so the shoreline end is the part you can use this fall.
The way in is the Grant Avenue Staging Area at East Bay Regional Park District's Hayward Regional Shoreline. Take Washington Avenue to Grant Avenue and head toward the Bay. The staging area is on the right, about 100 yards before Grant dead-ends. Parking is free. The park is listed as open 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. unless posted otherwise. Gates are open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. all year, and that matters more now that it gets dark early in the evening.
From the lot, the trail reaches the bridge over San Lorenzo Creek in less than half a mile. EBRPD's Hayward Shoreline map lists every bridge and landmark beyond it, so you can choose your turnaround point before you leave the car.
| From the Grant Ave. parking area to | Miles, per EBRPD map |
|---|---|
| Bridge at San Lorenzo Creek | 0.38 |
| Bridge at Bockman Channel | 0.75 |
| Bridge at Oro Loma Marsh | 1.16 |
| Bridge at Sulphur Creek | 1.45 |
| Hayward's Landing | 2.26 |
| Cogswell Marsh | 2.82 |
| Johnson's Landing | 3.89 |
| Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center | 5.04 |
The same map shows a second route from the creek bridge: 2.25 miles along the San Francisco Bay Trail to San Leandro Marina. So one parking spot gives you two directions to walk. You can head toward the marina, or walk past a run of marshes toward the Interpretive Center at 5.04 miles. Going out and back to the Oro Loma Marsh bridge comes to a little over two miles.
These trails sit on old working ground. According to EBRPD, levees in Hayward and San Lorenzo were first built to make land for salt production. Landings set up in the 1850s ferried passengers, salt and farm goods to San Francisco, and at low tide you can still see timbers from those landing sites in the mudflats beside the trail. The names in the table, Hayward's Landing and Johnson's Landing, come from that history.
The marshes were restored later, one project at a time. Cogswell Marsh, a 250-acre tidal marsh, was finished in 1980. Hayward Marsh, a 145-acre fresh and brackish water marsh with 15 islands used by nesting birds, came in 1985. Oro Loma Marsh, a 364-acre tidal marsh with seasonal wetlands, was built in 1997. Altogether the park covers 1,841 acres and has five miles of gravel shoreline trail.
The district also has plans for that marshland. EBRPD's Restore Hayward Marsh project gives Phase 1A a tentative start of Summer/Fall 2027, so nothing in it changes a walk this fall.
The restored marshes are why this shoreline fills with birds when the weather turns cool. EBRPD says returning shorebirds reach Bay shores as early as July and as late as October and November. On this shoreline in particular, the district describes stilts, avocets and godwits feeding in shallow water and mud at low or outgoing tide. It also lists kites, falcons, red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks, turkey vultures, herons and egrets. Check a tide table before you go, because a falling tide is when the mud is open and the birds are feeding.
If you'd like company and borrowed binoculars, EBRPD is holding a Bay Bird Mornings walk right at the Grant Avenue entrance next month:
EBRPD also has a Monday Birding drop-in walk at Hayward Regional Shoreline on November 2, 2026, from 9 a.m. to noon. It covers two to five miles and needs no registration. That one meets at the West Winton Avenue Staging Area in Hayward, a farther drive south than Grant Avenue.
Picking the entrance matters most if you're bringing a dog. EBRPD does not allow dogs south of the West Winton Avenue flood control channel at all, to protect wildlife. The Grant Avenue end is north of that line, so the district's regular dog rules apply there. Dogs must be on a leash no longer than six feet in posted or developed areas and within 200 feet of park entrances, staging areas and trails. Off leash, they must be under voice control, and they may not go into wetlands or marshes. Since the trail begins at a staging area and runs between marshes, plan on keeping the leash on.
Under the rules printed on EBRPD's Hayward Shoreline map, bikes may use designated trails only, and riders under 18 need an approved helmet. EBRPD's Bay Trail page describes the Hayward section as more than seven miles of compacted-gravel walkway. That surface is fine for a hybrid bike and rough going for skinny road tires.
The shoreline is where the creek's public walking route begins today. The Hayward Area Recreation and Park District and Alameda County are working on the rest. The San Lorenzo Creekway Plan imagines a continuous multi-use trail and greenway along San Lorenzo Creek. It would connect neighborhoods to parks, schools, transit and local businesses and restore native habitat along the banks. Improvements are named for San Lorenzo, Ashland, Cherryland, Castro Valley, Fairview and Hayward Acres, plus the cities of Hayward and San Leandro. HARD's description has the corridor linking the Bay Trail on the west to the East Bay Regional Park District trail system and the Bay Area Ridge Trail on the east.
So the Bay Trail at the creek mouth is the western end of that whole idea. The route has been planned for a while. A 2020 HARD staff report described turning the County's maintenance road along the creek channel into a pedestrian and bicycle path of about five miles, starting at the shoreline in San Lorenzo and San Leandro and continuing east through Ashland, Cherryland and Hayward. The phasing in that report has since been replaced by the funded project described below.
HARD held community workshops on the plan this month. The first was October 14 at the San Lorenzo Community Center, 1970 Via Buena Vista, and an online session followed on October 17. Spanish, Mandarin and Cantonese support was offered at each. Updates will go up on HARD's project page, which also has a sign-up for project news.
The Alameda County Transportation Commission's agenda packet for its technical advisory committee's January 8, 2026 meeting includes a funding status table. That table lists Alameda County's "Upper San Lorenzo Creekway Trail" with a remaining balance of $9,621,000 in federal One Bay Area Grant Cycle 3 funds, programmed for construction. It gives completing environmental review as the project's next step and sets these target dates:
These are scheduled targets, and project schedules can change. In a March 2026 implementation report, Alameda County called the project a multi-use connector trail from Castro Valley to San Lorenzo. The County said funding had been confirmed and that HARD and Public Works were preparing an agreement for building the project and a request for design proposals, both planned for early 2026. "Upper" refers to the funded segment. HARD's project page is the place to see exactly where that segment begins and ends.
For now, one more piece of San Lorenzo Creek is open to walk, a few miles upstream. The Alameda County Flood Control District's Scenic Adventures page lists the San Lorenzo Creek Trail near City Center Drive in downtown Hayward. In 2005 the District stabilized the creek banks and retaining walls between Foothill Boulevard and Sixth Street. The walk there now has staircases, viewing overlooks, native landscaping, and signs about local history and the creek's role in flood control.
That gives the creek two short walkable pieces today. One is the Bay end, reached from Grant Avenue. The other is a short creekside stretch in downtown Hayward. The Creekway plan is about filling in the miles between them and continuing east to the hills.
Our team at Evolve Real Estate lives and works in these same neighborhoods, and the creek running past San Lorenzo, Cherryland and Castro Valley is part of everyday life here. If the Creekway timeline has you thinking about how a future trail could shape your own street or a home you might sell someday, we're happy to talk it through with you. Get Your Quote whenever you're ready, no pressure and no rush.
Stay up to date on the latest real estate trends.
You’ve got questions and we can’t wait to answer them.
