Tiburon Multi-Use Pathway: Paradise, Where Life Is Eternal From Richard Katz's
Skating Unrinked book, published in paperback by HarperCollinsWest in 1994. Or was it '95? If you are not reading this on a screen, stop reading and head to www.Amazon.com. Thanx. Richard Katz = katz@frogojt.com. email
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Chapter tiburon2
Tiburon Multi-Use Pathway: Paradise, Where Life Is Eternal
The Tiburon Trail starts in an estuary -- one of the few official shoreline mudflats I have ever seen -- and ends in one of the most pleasant shopping areas in the Bay Area. Tiburon is a great destination for an outing.
There is free parking at the western end of the two and a half mile trail. The parking lot is unpaved, but the locals seem to be inured to that enough to drive slowly and not raise any unpleasant clouds of dust. At the other end of the trail, in the heart of town, parking spaces are to be had only at a considerable premium.
The western part of the trail has no cross traffic, and is especially inviting for kids and beginners. It does have one little slope near the parking lot.
How to Get There by Car from Highway 101:
The trail is approximately 1.4 miles from Highway 101.
From either northbound or southbound 101, take the Tiburon - East Blithedale exit. Head east on Tiburon Boulevard. (The same road is called East Blithedale on the western side of the freeway.) Punch your odometer at the Chevron station, and proceed east 1.3 miles to a sign "Blackie's Pasture Road." Make an immediate right. Drive slowly (so as not to raise a cloud of dust and disturb the locals) to the very back of the unpaved parking lot. The farther back you can get, the better; dust is the enemy of your wheel bearings. In fact, if you can get all the way to the back and to the right, you will be at the abandoned end of Greenwood Beach, at the western terminus of the trail.
You will know you are in the right place when you spot a green street sign that says "Bernini Way." Start skatng east on the path, as indicated by that sign. Make sure you pass up the short path after the parking lot going back toward Tiburon Boulevard that isn't much fun at all. Head in the uphill direction.
What It's Like:
This two and a half mile path follows the shoreline of Richardson Bay. After a short slightly uphill section, there is a sharp left and then a right; just keep heading east, and never mind that other little trail that beckons with a second left. The trail winds past McKegney Green, where the teams of Tiburon play soccer until 1 PM on Sunday, when they must relinquish the field to sunbathers and newspaper readers. Stop at the wooden benches and enjoy the scenic overlooks. This section of the path is a beautiful stretch of very smooth pavement.
After McKegney Green, you skate through a genuine wildlife sanctuary, maintained by the Richardson Bay Sanitation District. The sanctuary has been officially dedicatedwith a bronze plaque fastened to a boulder by the side of the path, embossed with the likeness of a local sanitation engineer, Max H. Graefe, and the bon mot "Life is Eternal". On the shore side of the trail, there are mudflats. On the landward side are the Richardson Bay Wildlife Ponds. Take the time to read and ponder thepublic service announcements framed in rustic lumber that implore you to appreciate Nature in large letters, along the trail. The primitive and inarticulate little creatures of Richardson Bay's briny swamp will turn that sign into food as soon as it gets too close to the benthic ooze of their 'flats.
There is no traffic on this stretch of the trail. The way is very clearly marked with the distance in quarter miles from either end.
Once you get to San Rafael Drive, the trail is a bit less idyllic, because you have to cross a street and then negotiate a boardwalk. You are now running parallel and cheek by jowl with the highway. Traffic noise can be intense at rush hour.
There is another street crossing at Mar West Street. On the other side, a sign clearly announces "No Bikes" here. Do not fear: The Tiburon Police say that skates are allowed everywhere in town.
As you approach downtown Tiburon, the remainder of the trail is less of a trail than a bike route.
When you get to a traffic circle, the trail is at an official end. Note that east of the traffic circle, there is a path along the water, once again lovely and scenic just as it was back by McKegney Green and the Wildlife Ponds. According to the Tiburon Police, you may skate on that trail, right next to the Bay. It's an unusual surface, a solid five-sack concrete with pea gravel exposed aggregate, that produces a remarkably smooth hard surface with a good "grip". Not only that, it's lighted at night. Bicycles are clearly instructed to use the bike lane in the street.
Places to Eat:
There are, of course, any number of sophisticated and palatepleasing establishments in the worldly but laid back town of Tiburon. Within a few yards of the roundabout, there are four or five excellent places to enjoy a meal or a snack, including the Main Street Grill that has great pizza. But for a party of skaters, there is only one place to go for food, drink, and rest, and that place is Paradise. The owner of Paradise used to run a skate shop just up the street, just a few years ago. He still has a dozen beatup pairs of rental skates in the back of the grill. And at Paradise, skaters are not just tolerated, or merely welcome. At Paradise, skaters are "more then welcome". Mr DeSimone's bill of fare features zucchini sticks, curly french fries, fresh salad, sandwiches, hamburgers, and generous ice cream. The address is 1694 Tiburon Boulevard, right on the main drag. Phone is 415 435 8823.
Public Transportation:
Tiburon has it's own ferry dock; two of them, in fact. Golden Gate Ferry goes to San Francisco and to Sausalito and is a wonderful way to visit Tiburon. (No skates worn on the Ferries.) The other ferry is run by the Park Service and goes back and forth to Angel Island. Angel Island is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to skate there (the surfaces are rough.)
Golden Gate Transit goes to Tiburon every day. It's the #10 bus line, which serves the Tiburon Ferry, the Sausalito Ferry, and downtown San Francisco. The 8, 9, 11, and 45 also run during commute hours.
Ratings:
Path Surface = *** (some****, near McKegney Green, and some ***** past the ferry dock)
Public Transit Access = ****
Surroundings = **
Level of Difficulty = MEDIUM (traffic)
Overall Rating = ***
Length = 2.5 miles
Other trails to check out in the neighborhood:
Mill Valley - Sausalito Trail
10/10/96
Note from the Author: Haven't put in links to the other chapters yet.
From Richard Katz's Skating Unrinked book, published in paperback by HarperCollinsWest in 1994. Or was it '95? If you are not reading this on a screen, stop reading and head to www.Amazon.com. Thanx. Richard Katz = katz@frogojt.com. email
Back to Richard Katz's Homepage
If you want to go back to the Table of Contents of Skating Unrinked, Back to TOC