Mountain View Shoreline Park

Shoreline Park and Stevens Creek Shoreline Nature Study Area are adjacent parks near the Google campus in Mountain View. The parks don't comprise a large area, so you can hike a pretty large percentage of the park in one visit.

I am not sure exactly how long this trail was, but I think that it was under 3 miles. I parked in the kite flying area of Mountain View Shoreline Park, and hiked alongside the road leading further into the park until I got to the lake. The lake itself is quite nice, and the boat rental area looks awesome! It seems like it would be a really fun afternoon to take baby girl out on the lake in a canoe when she gets to be a bit older.

To get back, I hiked along the levee to San Francisco Bay. There is a major fire in Napa and Sonoma Counties right now, and the smoke is making its way down all the way to the South Bay. The smoke muted the colors today and obscured our view of the Diablo Mountains in the East Bay. Along our views were muted, we did see lots of wildlife: butterflies, ground squirrels, jack rabbits, and lots of water birds.

Although we had a good time overall, this park wasn't really a hiker's park. I think that it would be more fun for people who were there to participate in water sports. I am glad that I went, but I am not itching to return.