Over the weekend, I was wondering whether it was just me or did we just move to summer directly from winter. Till about a week or two back, the temperatures were in the 50s, cold and breezy threatening to rain anytime - well, typical winter weather in general. And suddenly over the weekend the temperature shot up to 90 - hot and sweaty. Where did the beautiful spring disappear amidst all this? I wonder…

Anyway, I thought it was a criminal waste to sit at home in this weather and so decided to go for a hike on Sunday. Near our place, there is a quaint little town called Alviso with an old world charm to it, that boasts of a nice county park that opens to the bay. This town was once a prosperous town with a busy port shipping agricultural products from the Santa Clara Valley. With other means of transport getting more popular, the port lost its importance and so did the town. The current attraction in this town is the Alviso County Marina park with its miles of trails for bikers and hikers on the levees here.


The levees has some of the longest and loneliest trails - gives you a chance to get upclose and personal with nature. This area, with its acres of marshes, salt ponds, mud flats, sloughs, freshwater creeks, and bay shallows, is incredibly rich in flora and fauna, especially in bird species. There are many resident and migratory birds, and this is a bird watcher’s paradise. The San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory is headquartered here and the most part of the park is part of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

The paths for trails in this park take you closer to the bay, and trails do not lead to any destination per se, as they are predominantly connector trails. It is fun to walk on the levees with bay water gushing on both sides and birds chirping away, especially in the evenings. The main trail is about 9 miles long , but you can walk on the levees to make it a smaller loop. There is also a train track along the trail, the visual and sound of the train passing by at sunset is stunning.

Find more information about the park and the trail here and here.