Backyard Beat: Bair Island

For a few weeks now, I’ve been on the lookout for family-friendly hikes in the San Francisco Bay Area. Among other places, my searches took me to a wetland area I hadn’t heard about — Bair Island!

That’s where I’m taking you to, today. If you’d like to hike there, I’ve got some pointers for the trip at the end of the post.

What and Where is Bair Island?

Bair Island lies to the east of Redwood City. This wetlands area is now being preserved by Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The information boards at the island told me that the area was being protected by fencing off urban development of the Bay Area and by adding native greenery to the area.

I hear these parts were used for salt production and farming for a long time. Later a residential community too was planned for this area. However, the development of the property was stopped and the land was transferred to the National Wildlife Refuge in the late 1990s. Since then, the area has been recovering from the human and cattle influences it has had in the past.

Hiking this Wildlife Refuge

When we arrived in Bair Island one morning in January 2020, it was a grey winter morning and the place looked nice and fresh even though it was a cloudy day. After we made a quick stop at the viewing area near the apartments that border the island, we hit the longer trail on the island.

We opted for the close to 2-mile hike to the viewing deck at the far end of the island. There’s one quite close to the parking lot as well. Since we chose the longer trail we walked parallel to highway 101 and towards the northern part of Inner Bair Island. (There are 2 more pieces of land extending out of this area and into the SF Bay.)

Along the way, we got to see more of the wetland, wild mushrooms, pools of water and a whole lot of birds enjoying the area that has been turned into a haven for wetland fauna and flora.

Here are a few sights from the marshy island beside Redwood City:

Things you need to know for the hiking trip

• The shorter trail is towards the right of the information boards that stand opposite the bridge to the island. This trail is .4 miles one-way.
• The longer trail is paved and goes up to 2 miles (one way). It is an easy walk through flat land.
• There are no restrooms along the trail but there’s one near the parking lot (which is near the apartment complex south of the island. You might want to use it before you hit the northerly trail.)
• There are several benches along the trail, in case you need a break. 
• You can also rest at the end of the trail where there is an observation deck with a couple of benches.
• One fun thing you can do is look for the small board on the trail that suggests you put your photographic device on a bracket fitted there and share the view from there on social media with the hashtag #restorebair1. You’ll be contributing to a pool of pictures of a pool and a strip of water meandering to or away from it. It also helps authorities see how the restoration of the project is progressing. (Go to IG or Twitter and key in the hashtag and see what I am talking about. It felt nice to add to the tag. :))

If you like this place you might also want to see:

Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge – So Verdant, So Rich
(Washington State)

Linking to
Our World Tuesday
&
My Corner of the World

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