To provide your own input on the San Ramon trails master plan directly to the City of San Ramon, take the City of San Ramon’s trails survey.
A new era of trails is dawning on the City of San Ramon.
Once among the most pro-development cities in the East Bay, San Ramon now has one of the highest percentages of publicly accessible open space within East Bay cities.
Part of this change happened through the Dougherty Valley project settlement agreement, where large additions of housing in the city resulted in thousands of acres of city open space as a development compromise.
San Ramon has made open space publicly accessible in a few different ways. The city collects development fees to acquire additional lands, created an Open Space Advisory Committee, and has published a hard and digital copy of their San Ramon trails map.
San Ramon is now one of the few East Bay cities undertaking a trails master plan, in part to address trails gaps and to take a fire-road-based trail system to the next level.
The City of San Ramon, with input from its Open Space Advisory Committee, has chosen Design Workshop Inc. (DWI) to lead updates to the trails master plan.
This work will include designing new trails, improving existing ones, and connecting surrounding open space and regional trail systems to the City of San Ramon.
DWI will perform most of its studies and community outreach throughout the summer with the final plan set to be released in early fall.
One of the plan’s main priorities is to have future trailheads accessible to all residents and considered as a complementary transportation corridor.
The Iron Horse Trail on a spring afternoon. Photo: Steven dePaschalis
The city, which is surrounded by ridgeline regional parks, has had the benefit of a strong north-to-south trail system, namely with the Iron Horse Trail traversing directly through the city center.
To the west, the Calaveras Ridge Trail also provides significant north-south linkage from the Dublin Hills to Las Trampas Wilderness Regional Preserve.
To the east, the Tassajara Creek and Ridge trails are nearly complete, extending from the Dublin BART station north to Mount Diablo State Park, to Morgan Territory Regional Preserve, and into Riggs Canyon.
In between the ridges there are some lengthy creek trails, especially along branches of Alamo Creek.
However, there has been a lack of east-to-west trail connectivity. The new trail master plan looks to address this.
New trails being added to the Bishop Ranch Regional Open Space will act as a bridge into the city from the western side.
On the eastern side, Geologic Hazard Abatement District trails may connect to Tassajara Valley and Old Ranch Open Space. The trails plan also seeks to fill in trail gaps in Hidden Valley Open Space.
Improvements to the Iron Horse Trail will likely be proposed as well, including more shaded structures and trees while the city finishes the Bollinger Canyon Road overcrossing and continues planning the Crow Canyon Road overcrossing.
Background on San Ramon’s Open Space and Trails
San Ramon has a rich history regarding its open space and trail system. Open space in the city was traditionally used for ranching, with most of the current trail system consisting of old ranching roads that double as fire roads.
The addition of single-track, narrow trails laid out in the new plan could make the updated trail system more walker- and hiker-friendly.
Streamview Trail in Bishop Ranch, an example of a hiker-friendly single-track trail. Photo: Stephen Joseph
The city’s support for open space and trails has shifted significantly in the past few decades.
Large development proposals such as those in Doughtery Valley and Tassajara Valley, as well as expansions of the urban growth boundary, or the city-created line in which urban development cannot go beyond, were supported by past city leadership.
After Save Mount Diablo helped defeat Measure W, the 2010 measure that proposed to expand the urban growth boundary into Tassajara Valley, new councilmembers were elected. San Ramon shifted from pro-growth expansion to pro–open space and infill-oriented.
Tassajara Ridge and surrounding hills, once at risk for housing developments. Photo: Stephen Joseph
Today, San Ramon is setting the standard for what outdoor access and trail enhancement should look like.
The San Ramon City Council and staff should be commended for their efforts to prioritize pedestrian, biking, and hiking interests. Save Mount Diablo gives its full support to the updated trails master plan process.
The city is putting an emphasis on community engagement and encourages public participation throughout this process. To provide your input, take the San Ramon trails master plan community survey.
