Bay Area urban hikes you can get to by BART

Get to know Oakland’s bustling Uptown and Lake Merritt districts with this BARTable walk that takes you past historical and architectural landmarks, along an urban tidal lagoon to a museum that celebrates the dynamic story of California.

Walk Time: 1.5 to 2 hours | Distance: 3.2 miles | Terrain: Level sidewalks and paved trails

Route Map

Photo courtesy of Visit Berkeley

Climb secret staircases to sweeping bay views and then pass through the birthplace of California cuisine before rubbing elbows with U.C. Berkeley students, faculty and visitors on this BARTable walk from El Cerrito to downtown Berkeley.  

Walk Time: 2 to 2.5 hours | Distance: 3.8 miles | Terrain: Paved trails, level and hilly sidewalks, stairs and alleys

What do big burritos, an adobe building, a towering mural, ghostly skeletons, a street with two names and tropical fruit ice cream have in common? They’re all found on this BARTable walk in San Francisco down the Valencia Corridor in the Mission District to the Glen Park neighborhood.

Walk Time: 1.75 to 2.5 hours | Distance: 3.4 miles | Terrain: City sidewalks

Route Map

Do you love to shop, dine, watch a show or enjoy art or the outdoors? Yes to any or all of the above? Then this BARTable walk though the heart of downtown Walnut Creek to Pleasant Hill has something for you.

Walk Time: 1.5 to 2 hours | Distance: 3.3 miles | Terrain: Level sidewalks and paved trails

Route Map

With stops at a pixie-sized amusement park to pilot Red Baron airplanes and a family-friendly taproom to sample craft beer from here in the Bay, across the state and points beyond, this BARTable Walk into downtown Concord is sure to please the kids (and kids-at-heart) and also you moms and dads.

Walk Time: 1.75 to 2.5 hours | Distance: 3.5 miles | Terrain: City sidewalks, some paved and unpaved trails

Route Map

Mix together two neighborhood tours, add in a stop at a building full of architectural surprises, top off with a stroll through a food and art corridor, and you've got a recipe for urban adventure on this BARTable walk in Oakland.

Walk Time: 2 hours | Distance: 4 miles | Terrain: Level sidewalks (with one hill) 

Get on your riding leathers and check out a motorcycle museum, then strap on your boots for a hike up to a spectacular vista point before jumping back in time to the pioneer days of the 1800s on this read more...

Travel all the way to Central Park (there’s one in the Bay Area!) on just a BART fare and visit a California Mission (that’s outside of San Francisco) and its surrounding neighborhoods on this BARTable walk through Fremont.

Walk Time: 4 hours | Distance: 8 miles | Terrain: Level sidewalks and paved trails (with a few residential hills)

Exit the Fremont Station to the west (away from the hills) and through the parking lot. Head down BART Way and take a left onto Civic Center Drive.

Where’s the Warriors’ new arena gonna be? What’s the crookedest street in San Francisco? (Spoiler alert! It’s not Lombard.) How did the Dogpatch neighborhood get its name? Get the answers on this BARTable walk along the Embarcadero, through Mission Bay and up and over Potrero Hill to the Mission district.

Walk Time: 3 hours | Distance: 6 miles | Terrain: Sidewalks, dirt trail (one steep hill)

Follow in the footsteps of Nobel laureates, industry innovators and political activists with a stroll through the Cal campus and then treat yourself to a scoop of “churned-to-order” ice cream on this BARTable walk from Downtown Berkeley to Rockridge in Oakland.

Walk Time: 1.75 hours | Distance: 3.5 miles | Terrain: Sidewalks, paved trails

Route Map

Spend an afternoon “sitting on the dock of the bay” in Oakland’s Jack London Square and find out what’s old and what’s new along the city’s historic waterfront on this BARTable Walk from Lake Merritt to West Oakland.