Date: November 13, 2011
This time, we wanted a quick trip to a nearby park somewhere in Fremont. We decided to look at what Coyote Hills park has to offer.
We got to the park relatively late – it was around noon. As we were approaching the park, we saw a lot of cars parked on the shoulders of the road leading to the main entrance. We were concerned that it would be as busy as on Mission Peak a couple of weeks before. However, this time there was a different explanation – it turned out that the park had a fee for parking. We ended up being proper citizens and paying up the $8 that was asked for a car and a dog (wow, that’s a lot!)
I wasn’t expecting much out of a park located in the middle of a city, so I was pleasantly surprised by what we found. Apparently, Coyote Hills park has several different types of terrain (hills, wetlands, bay shores), and a decent network of trails. The park borders on Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, so there are some good wildlife-viewing opportunities as well.
Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed on the wetland trails, so we decided to explore the hills and the bay shores. We took the Glider Hill Trail, which took us to the top of the hills. We spent some time on the top enjoying the views, and also watching a couple of guys flying RC gliders (I guess that explains the “Glider Hill” name!).
View from the Glider Hill
Us on top of the hill
Next, we explored the bay shores by the way of the Bayview Trail. This part of the park does not have great views like the hills, but it makes up for it in abundance of wildlife. We saw many different species of birds: some pelicans (actually, a lot of them), some raptors, and some funny-looking little birds wading in the shallow waters. The pelicans looked very cool when they flew overhead in numbers – it somehow looked like they kept changing color as they flapped their black and white wings. There were also some small mammals around, but we could only see them from the distance; they were quick to hide from Lily.
A bunch of pelicans
On the way back, we circled the hills from another side. We passed a former quarry, which looked more like a cliff.
Former quarry
Coyote Hills
I was very impressed with this little park; we’ll be back for quick weekend walks.
