BARTable Walk: Union City to Fremont

Learn about the important “roles” the East Bay played during the early days of the movie industry and in the building of the Transcontinental Railroad on this BARTable walk from Union City to Fremont through the historic Niles district.

Walk Time: 3.5 hours | Distance: 7.5 miles | Terrain: Sidewalks, gravel paths

Route Map

Otherwise, cross over to the other side of Alvarado-Niles Road. Head left down to Osprey Drive, take a right and then a left onto Quarry Lakes Drive to Quarry Lakes Regional Recreation Area. Go past the entrance kiosk through the parking lot to Horseshoe Lake and take the Old Creek Trail to the right.

 

Continue on the Old Creek Trail, keeping Horseshoe Lake on your left, all the way around until it ends at the BART tracks. Take a right onto the Western Pacific Trail up to its end at Alameda Creek. The creek starts at a lake near Mount Hamilton (east of San Jose) and flows for 45 miles through Niles Canyon and out to the bay at the southern end of Hayward. It was the original boundary between Contra Costa and Santa Clara Counties before there was an Alameda County, which was established in 1853 from land taken from both counties.

 

 

Take a left onto the Alameda Creek Regional Trail that spans 12 miles, beginning in the Niles district of Fremont and continuing west through Union City and Newark to the Bay. Go under the BART tracks and take an immediate left onto the spur trail leading past Shinn Pond (where gravel was quarried in the late 1800s to build UC Berkeley) to Rancho Arroyo Park. Take a right onto Montecito Drive and another right onto Bodily Avenue, then a left onto Hillview Drive out to Niles Blvd. Turn left and walk a block down to Nursery Avenue.

 

For a historical and horticultural treat, head in for a visit to the California Nursery Historical Park. The 20-acre park is what remains of the California Nursery Company that once covered 463 acres (roughly the same size as Quarry Lakes!). The nursery was established here in 1884 by John Rock who moved to California after fighting for the Union during the Civil War. It was the largest operation of its kind west of the Rockies and provided the plants for Leland Stanford’s estate in Palo Alto. And for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, it supplied the palms for the Avenue of Palms, which were transported there-and- back by horse, train and ship (pre-bay bridges era). (Park, Every day, 7am to 30 min past sunset; Museum, Sunday, 1 to 4pm; Self-guided walking tour map)

 

 

Also within the park grounds is the Vallejo Adobe built in 1842 on, at that time, José de Jesús Vallejo’s Rancho Arroyo de la Alameda. Vallejo came from a prominent family during the Spanish and Mexican periods with large land holdings and military positions. He was a bit of a job hopper, holding down gigs as administrator and postmaster of Mission San José, military commander of the Pueblo of San José and flour mill owner. The adobe with tile roof structure was initially used to house workers from his mill located at the mouth of Niles Canyon.

 

 

Return to Niles Blvd., head back to the right past Hillview Drive and continue on into downtown Niles. With its quaint shops, country store and town plaza lined up along its main street, Niles is a wonderful East Bay gem that has kept its “Small Town, USA” feel despite the surrounding urban growth. It was one of five small towns (the others being Centerville, Irvington, Mission San José and Warm Springs) that were annexed into the City of Fremont when it incorporated in 1956. As you make your way through town, it’s impossible to miss its connection to the railroad. Union Pacific tracks crisscross its borders and in the plaza are railroad buildings, a caboose and train tracks with signals. In fact, it took its name from the Central Pacific Railroad's Niles depot built in 1870 as part of the Transcontinental Railroad.

 

Make your way further into downtown along Niles Blvd. Pop into Devout Coffee to top off your travel mug with pour-over coffee brewed from their roasted beans (weekdays, 7am to 6pm; weekends, 8am to 7pm). Then admire the lineup of motorcycles that inevitably forms next door outside The Florence Bar every weekend (every day, 10am to 2am). After that, head into the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum to learn about the area’s contribution to the movie industry as a mini-Hollywood of the north. Chicago-based Essanay Film Manufacturing Company set up a studio and film lot just a half-block away in 1912. Niles and the canyon were used as the backdrop in many of their films, including those starring the “first western movie star” Gilbert “Broncho Billy" Anderson and also silent film legend Charlie Chaplin’s The Tramp that debuted his iconic tramp character. (Museum, Weekends, noon to 4pm, free; Theater hours vary by screening)

 

Route Map

Variations and options

• Extend the walk: Earn bonus points by continuing with BARTable Walk: Fremont to Warm Springs / South Fremont for a whopping 16-mile trek!
• Join a walking tour: The Museum of Local History offers walking tours during the spring and summer months at locations throughout the Tri-City Area, including Niles. (Free, $5 sugg. donation)
• Ride the rails: Celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad with a ride out to Sunol on the Niles Canyon Railway. (Schedule & Fares)
• Hit the markets: Check out the farm-fresh produce and specialty foods at the Niles Farmers Market (Saturday, 10am to 2pm) or hang around into the evening for Niles Street Eats when the Food Truck Mafia rolls into town (Wednesday, 5 to 9pm).

 

Union City Station first opened in September 1972 and was built on the site of the Western Pacific Railroad’s Decoto depot. It is situated at the center of Union City’s developing Intermodal Station District, a transit-oriented community with shopping, employers, housing and public amenities. A new east entrance will lead to a future commuter platform for the Amtrak Capitol Corridor and planned Dumbarton Rail Corridor services.

 

Fremont Station first opened in September 1972. It was the terminal station for lines to Daly City and Richmond until the opening of the Warm Springs / South Fremont Station in 2017. Outside the west entrance are two covered bench areas decorated with glass tile mosaics by artist Joe Keivitt and a clock and temperature tower dedicated to George Silliman (1916 – 1997), President of BART’s Board of Directors when operations first began in 1972.