Dumbarton Quarry

It’s been a while since we’ve tried a new place. This is a brand new park, located right at the eastern side of the Dumbarton Bridge. It sits on the edge of the southern marsh lands in the San Francisco Bay and is conveniently located if you are looking to travel through the Bay Area. As such, you wouldn’t think it would be much of an outdoorsy place, just a stone’s throw from downtown Hayward. But it butts up against Coyote Hills Wilderness, and actually provides substantial access to open space.

We had no idea what to expect, and my expectations were low. It is a brand new park, with all new facilities, and I think they designed it pretty well. There are lots of hookup sites, but the angles are staggered, so you are not right up next to someone. Still, it is an all paved, RV park with amenities, so this is not going to feel like you’re boondocking. I think once the newly planted trees and shrubs fill in, it will feel more like a park. There are laundry facilities, and a vending machine, and a little campground store coming soon. And you can’t beat the cell service. If I had better hearing, I could probably have heard the steady traffic going across the bridge, but Richard says it’s hardly noticeable.

Our agenda for Saturday was to get in some hiking. There are lots of nice trails and we clocked just over six miles doing an exploration loop. The weather was overcast, with threats of drizzle that did not materialize. Perfect weather for hiking.

The first thing we noticed was a large structure at the top of the hills that seems to be some kind of water treatment facility. As you look down at the bay, you can spy lots of individually separated water bodies, bordered by long berms into large pools. I guess this is all part of the San Francisco Bay Salt Ponds, which began during the Gold Rush for salt harvesting. Now the area has become part of a huge restoration project.

We took a downhill trail to the Visitor Center, where we saw really nicely done exhibits on the local ecosystems. They also had a whole room devoted to exhibits on Native American basket weaving. Outside, they had created a beautiful native plant garden with lots of nectar producing plants favored by butterflies and hummingbirds.

We finished off the loop by walking along the bay, ending up back at Dory in the late afternoon. I made a nice Blue Apron Tilapia dish, and we went out to catch the sunset. It was more of an uphill hike than I thought it would take, just to get up to a good view. But it was a nice vantage point. You could make out the Dumbarton and San Mateo Bridges. I’m sure on a clear day, you can see all the way up to San Francisco, but it was too overcast for that.

I’d happily come to this place again. It’s close, and clean, and has access to enough trails that you’ve got something fun to do. If you’re wanting city stuff, you’re close to both San Jose and Oakland. I think it would make a good launching point for a Bay Area stay, though you’re not that close to SF. I won’t oversell the naturey, campy feel of it, but we both enjoyed our stay.

Total Miles: 36.8, 16.5 mpg, 2 hours. Site 48 full hookups. Great solar, excellent cell. Also wifi available. Great dump right in the site. Site was a bit tippy, probably for drainage. All new facilities. Campground store coming soon. Laundry and vending machine. New bathrooms and showers. Gate is locked after 10pm, so no entrance, only exit.