Next Steps for the Niles Canyon Trail

Author: Bike East Bay

The Niles Canyon Trail is a proposed six-mile trail that would connect the Niles District in Fremont and the unincorporated community of Sunol. Join the community meeting on March 11, 6:30pm to learn the latest and help plan the trail.

Learn more at the community meeting on March 11.

Last we talked, three options were up for consideration for hacking a trail through Niles Canyon, using a combination of access roads, aqueducts, and railroad right-of-way. You can learn more about these options at the March 11 public meeting. The latest priority is figuring out how to construct Phase 1 of the project: a connection between Niles District and Palomares Road, about a third of the way up the canyon. 

Once complete, the new trail will serve walkers, people bicycling, and equestrians. It will start at the end of the Alameda Creek trail in Niles, and traverse the rugged terrain paralleling Alameda Creek and the Niles Canyon railway six miles to Sunol. It will be 10 feet wide, paved in asphalt, and designed to be accessible to all users and abilities.The trail will include a bridge linking it to Palomares Road creating a safe crossing of State Route 84. To accommodate user parking, the project features staging areas in downtown Niles, on Palomares Road, and a new parking area to be constructed by the East Bay Regional Park District in Sunol.

Alameda County Public Works (ACPWA) and its project partners Fremont and Union City, as well as the East Bay Regional Park District, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and the Alameda County Water District continue to work on this project. Learn more at the community meeting on March 11.