The 55-acre Stevens Creek Shoreline Nature Study Area, located adjacent to Mountain View’s Shoreline Park, offers a half-mile trail where visitors may spot pied-billed grebes, great blue herons, coots, and shovelers. The lucky birder may even spot a clapper rail or a salt marsh harvest mouse, two endangered species that depend on this sensitive habitat to survive.

Close to thirty years ago, only four miles of bay shoreline were accessible to the public. In 1987, the passage of Senate Bill 100, the “Ring Around the Bay” legislation, directed the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), in cooperation with local, regional, and state agencies and organizations, to develop and implement the San Francisco Bay Trail. The District has actively supported and participated in the creation of this trail, which, when completed, will link shoreline parks, open space preserves, and other public access areas in a continuous loop around San Francisco and San Pablo Bays. To date, approximately 210 miles of the proposed 400-mile San Francisco Bay Trail have been completed.

HOW TO GET THERE

The Stevens Creek Shoreline Nature Study Area is accessible from the Shoreline-at-Mountain View Park. From Highway 101, take Shoreline Boulevard east to the Shoreline Park entrance. After passing the entrance kiosk, turn right into the “Kite Area” parking lot.