Iron Horse Regional Trail

The Iron Horse Regional Trail is a railroad track for pedestrians, horse riders and bicycles in the East Bay Area of California.

This trail is located in the inland central Alameda and Contra Costa counties, mostly on the Southern Pacific Railroad right of way established in 1891 and abandoned in 1977. The two counties purchased the right of way at that time, with the intention of using it as a transport corridor; the Iron Horse Trail was first established in 1986. In 2003, BART also proposed to use the DMU line right-of – way from Walnut Creek to Tracy via Pleasanton.

The trail runs through the cities of Pleasanton, Dublin, San Ramon, Danville, Alamo, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill and Concord. When completed, the trail will run from Livermore in central Alameda County to Suisun Bay on the northern edge of Contra Costa County, a distance of more than 40 miles (64 km) from two counties and nine communities. The trail also connects directly to both Dublin / Pleasanton and Pleasant Hill BART stations.

The trail is maintained by the Regional Park District of East Bay. It is a wheelchair accessible paved trail along adjacent unpaved or soft trails in some areas. The Iron Horse Regional Trail has several bridges over busy thoroughfares to help improve traffic flow; two notable bridges cross Ygnacio Valley Road in Walnut Creek and Treat Boulevard in Contra Costa Centre. Additional bridges are part of the planning process. Despite initial scepticism and even opposition, the trail is now a major transport and recreation corridor.

Initially, the city of Pleasanton chose not to preserve the transport corridor within its city limits. Although the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) still controlled the right of way, a number of developments including the Hacienda Business Park corridor have been built.

The first trail work in Pleasanton began in March 2006, creating a new section about 1 mile (1.6 km) long on the south side of the city. This segment was opened in March 2008. This left a gap in the trail, approximately 1.6 miles (2.6 km) long, extending from the Dublin side of the Dublin / Pleasanton BART station to Santa Rita Road near the Stoneridge Drive intersection, where the new section begins.

Starting in June 2010, the EBRPD, the City of Pleasanton, and the Landscape Architects Callander Associates held public meetings to discuss options for completing the city’s trail.

In February 2011, the Pleasanton City Council voted to ratify the master plan of the EBRPD developed on the basis of these meetings. $4 million in regional and federal grants has been allocated to complete this section of the trail. Construction began in May 2013 and the segment was opened on 25 July 2014.

The project addressed a number of barriers, including routing through an existing business campus, two city parks, a residential development, an apartment complex, and three busy road crossings; it connects with the earlier southern section at the intersection of two major streets.

In April 2013, a new trail section opened along Stanley Boulevard on the northside of Shadow Cliffs Lake in the unincorporated Alameda County. This leaves a gap of 0.6 miles (0.97 km) between the end of the Pleasanton section of the trail and the west end of this new segment, which ends at the Livermore city limits on the east end of the segment. The East Pleasanton Specific Plan Project includes plans to close this gap along the future extensions of Busch Road and El Charro Road to Stanley Boulevard.

This amazing landmark in Danville, California is located near some other must-see places of interest:

• Blackhawk Museum
• Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site
• AuburnJames Winery 
• Blackhawk Plaza
• Museum of the San Ramon Valley
• San Damiano Retreat 
• St. Isidore Catholic Church
• Century Blackhawk Plaza

All of these wonderful landmarks are located just a short distance from our location at 1091 Shary Circle in Concord, California! Stop by for a visit anytime!