

(via Google Maps; click route titles for individual maps)

The Mid-Peninsula is not a bad place to be dependent on a bike. There are plenty of long bike routes without stops that make it easy to get across town quite a bit faster than one would in a typical city. Finding them can be a bit tricky, though. Even where routes are officially established, they are generally not signed at every turn, making them easy to lose. Google maps can be useful for comparing distances, but it often suggests both dangerously fast streets and paths that aren’t suitable for street bikes. One Maps suggested route through the hills had me going through no fewer than three gates clearly meant to block cyclists. I obliged the first two times, but the third gate was twelve feet tall and rimmed with barbed wire.

Here I offer up with commentary four of my favorite bike routes passing through Palo Alto incorporating a number of short segments that I know pretty well. Give ’em a try!

Northeast: Escondido Village to BART

This route takes you over the Dumbarton Bridge Path towards the East Bay and BART.

From Serra and Campus Drive East, follow Campus north around the gas station and past the endless string of athletic facilities until you hit Palm. Turn right onto the bike path paralleling Palm and follow that until the end, merging with traffic where it crosses over El Camino. It then becomes Palo Alto’s University Ave and passes under Caltrain. Once you are back out the other side, use High to jog right one block to Hamilton. Follow Hamilton through downtown and across Middlefield until the road starts drifting right. At this point, take a left onto Chaucer, and an immediate right back onto the curving northern end of University.

University will quickly carry you over 101 into East Palo Alto and past some promising taquerias. Stop for a snack. Continue along University until it enters marsh land and hits Highway 84. Turn right onto the path paralleling the highway, and it will take you up and over the Dumbarton Bridge, safely away from traffic and with a great view of the old salt ponds and rail crossings of the southern extremes of the bay.

Once it lets you off, there are a number of street routes to Union City and Fremont BART stations. I have not yet found any route through here that I would especially recommend, so I am leaving you with Google’s best guess on this one, largely following Decoto Road into Union City.

Southeast: Stanford to the Guadalupe River

This route will take you from Stanford to the edge of San Jose through by way of a set of stop-free park trails with pretty amazing views. Stanford’s Campus Drive (the loop) and Palm Drive both have well-marked bike lanes, and the campus is exceptionally bike friendly… except during popular passing periods, when the crowds get thick enough that bike on bike accidents become a real concern. Undergrads have been known to text, eat, and ride at the same time.

Getting through central Palo Alto without hitting too much traffic takes some maneuvering. The path on the right side of Palm drive will carry you over El Camino. At this point the path becomes a sidewalk and Palm becomes Palo Alto’s University Ave, merge with traffic and follow the road under the Caltrain station. University doesn’t have especially great bike access, and can get quite busy with shoppers trying to park, so you’d best jog a block to the right, using High to get to Hamilton. Hamliton will take you as far as the Bryant Bike Boulevard (nothing more than a well-configured residential street), where you’ll take another right. From Bryant, look out for Addison, which will take you across Middlefield to Channing. Channing will take you east, loosely paralleling Embarcadero, until it runs into the abandoned Edgewood Shopping Center (if its Tuesday, have a Banh Mi or something for me). Take a right onto St Francis, follow its wobbling path across Embarcadero and through a small residential neighborhood until you see a sharp turn and a sign for a pedestrian bridge over 101. Turn right and look for the path to the bridge.

Follow the bridge over 101 (nobody actually walks their bikes, despite the sign, after they pass the narrows at the beginning) and turn right at the end onto Bayshore Road. Once the buildings on the far side of the street peter out, look for a chance to get onto the path following the road on that side.

You’ll follow the path past one marsh, past a cluster of public works buildings, and past another marsh, before it hits a short bridge and then T-junction with another path. Turn left, following signs for Shoreline and Mountain View. From this point, unsigned park paths will take you through some pretty stunning wetlands and past Shoreline, Google, and NASA as far as San Jose’s Guadalupe River Trail. Unfortunately, there is no clear route signage through most of the parks along this route, and many of the paths are dead ends, so it is essential to have both a map (like the one linked to in the title) and a clear sense of direction (or GPS) to find a direct route through.

Northwest: California Ave to Redwood City

Start going northwest on Park, which passes Fry’s and AOL ( Peers Park, where you’ll want to look out for a bike-only connector onto the otherwise-barricaded Castilleja Ave. Take the left fork at the next intersection to stay on Castilleja, and follow it until it dead ends at Churchill. Cross Churchill, and take a right onto the path beginning immediately before the entrance to Palo Alto High. The path, the Palo Alto Bike Path, will swing left and skirt along the back of the high school, Town and Country Shopping Center, and the Medical Foundation before hitting Caltrain. Just as the station starts to come into view, a spur of the trail dips steeply to the right and passes under the tracks. Start going northwest on, which passes Fry’s and AOL ( espresso !) before crossing Cal Ave and jogging a half-block north. Park then continues past, where you’ll want to look out for a bike-only connector onto the otherwise-barricaded. Take the left fork at the next intersection to stay on Castilleja, and follow it until it dead ends at. Cross Churchill, and take a right onto the path beginning immediately before the entrance to Palo Alto High. The path, the, will swing left and skirt along the back of the high school, Town and Country Shopping Center, and the Medical Foundation before hitting Caltrain. Just as the station starts to come into view, a spur of the trail dips steeply to the right and passes under the tracks.