Benicia State Recreation Area

Trail
N/A
N/A
N/A
3stars (3.00)2
2point5stars (2.50)
2point5stars (2.50)
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
1 State Park Rd
Benicia
Solano
More Info
Photos
Benicia Bay Trail
Looking down upon the Benicia Bay Trail where we started our hike from the Bay Area Ridge Trail. (Photo by Austin Explorer)
Wetlands
Heading towards our starting point on the Bay Area Ridge Trail. In the distance is the Southampton Bay wetland which divides the two halves of the park. (Photo by Austin Explorer)
Carquinez Bridge
Coppertone walks along the Bay Area Ridge Trail in the direction of the Carquinez Bridge. (Photo by Austin Explorer)
Shoreline
The Benicia Bay Trail provides ample views of the Carquinez Straight shoreline. (Photo by Austin Explorer)
Mount Diablo
Mount Diablo can be seen in the distance to the left from the Benicia Bay Trail. (Photo by Austin Explorer)
Southampton Bay
Looking across Southampton Bay from the Benicia Bay Trail. (Photo by Austin Explorer)
Benicia Bay Trail
Coppertone heads off along the Benicia Bay Trail. (Photo by Austin Explorer)
Carquinez Bridge
Looking west through the Carquinez Straight towards the Carquinez Bridge. San Pablo Bay lies just beyond it. (Photo by Austin Explorer)
Mount Diablo
Looking across the Carquinez Straight to Mount Diablo in the East Bay. (Photo by Austin Explorer)
Southampton Bay
The southernmost wetlands trail comes close to the mud flats and water of Southampton Bay, an arm of the Carquinez Straight. (Photo by Austin Explorer)
Wetlands Trail
The two wetlands trails that diverge from the paved path provide a bit more of hiking experience. (Photo by Austin Explorer)
Mike Taigher Trail
This paved trail is popular with walkers and cyclists. (Photo by Austin Explorer)
Log Entries
The rougher, more scenic side of Benicia State Recreation Area
By Austin Explorer on 4/30/2022
Rating: 3stars Difficulty: 3stars Solitude: 3stars
Distance: 4.50 Miles Duration: 2 hours

This was the second visit to the park for Coppertone and me.  Our first visit a week ago was mostly spent on the paved Mike Taugher Trail and small trails on the east side of Southampton Bay.  This time we intended to tackle the rougher trails on the bay's west side.

We parked near the Forrest Deaner Native Plant Botanical Garden and picnic area and started off on the Benicia Bay Trail.  This snakes atop the small bluff overlooking the Carquinez Straight.  At some point this turns into a portion of the Bay Area Ridge Trail though the official map is a bit unclear on the subject.  Just followed the main trail, turning left where possible to both stay in the park and roughly follow the shoreline.

There is only one short paved trail segment here, so expect to get more of a true hiking experience.  At numerous spots along the way one is afforded beautiful views of the Carquinez Straight and the hills of Contra Costa County across the water.  Eventually you'll also see the Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge, a.k.a. the Carquinez Bridge.

The trail heads west in the direction of that bridge.  It won't reach that far but will instead run into the adjacent Glen Cove Waterfront Park.  We completed the trails in that park today as well, though we logged it as a second hike.  Strangely, the trail in this park ends in a small loop.  But a continuation of the Bay Area Ridge Trail resides on the opposite side of nearby Elliot Cove and its marina. That disconnected segment continues all the way to the Carquinez Bridge.  It would be a nice addition to hiking in the area if the trails could be connected.

We doubled back to the core of Benicia SRA and mapped the various other trail segments that connect our trailhead, an alternate trailhead leading into a neighborhood, the huge PG&E transmission tower and a scenic overlook.  There are a few more segments in the botanical garden that we'll have to visit during a return trip.  We logged about 4.5 miles in this park and perhaps a half mile in Glen Cove.

More here than meets the eye
By Austin Explorer on 4/24/2022
Rating: 3stars Difficulty: 2stars Solitude: 2stars
Distance: 3.41 Miles Duration: 1 hour, 54 minutes

Coppertone and I did not know what to expect when coming here to hike.  We'd looked at the online map.  We knew there'd be a few miles of hiking we could do here.  So we figured we might as well visit and start mapping new trails.

We started out at the parking area near the Military West exit off of Highway 780.  This is the easternmost edge of the park.  The paved Mike Taigher Trail starts here and goes for a bit less than a mile to the north.  The path is probably more popular with cyclists than hikers, but there are some hiking only features here as well.  The real downside of the trail is that is parallels Highway 780.  Though there is a good tree line blocking some road noise, it is rather loud nonetheless.

Two unpaved sidetrails branch out from the paved path and venture a bit closer to the Southhampton Bay Wetland Natural Preserve which the park surrounds.  This is more of a true hiking experience.  And on our trip the added distance from the highway greatly decreased the road noise.

When we got back to our car we drove around to the Rose Drive entrance to the park near its northernmost point and drove down Dillon Point Road to the southernmost parking lot in the park.

Here we embarked on a leisurly stroll mostly along the shoreline of the Carquinez Strait.  There are a number of promising trails up on the bluff overlooking the shoreline here that we intend to map out on our next visit.

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