Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline

Dogs Leashed

Features Birding · River/Creek · Views · Wildflowers

This hike meanders through a 741 acre marshland park in East Oakland. This area is ideal for picnicking, BBQ, birdwatching, hiking, biking, rollerblading, sunbathing, and boat launching.

There's no shade, so bring sun protection.

This is one of the best birdwatching spots in the Bay Area. Located between the Oakland Airport and the 880 freeway, thousands of migrating birds find their way to this small marsh. The San Leandro Bay Wetlands have been restored, and the Arrowhead Marsh is now a major stopover on the Pacific Flyway. The flat, paved trail along the bay is a perfect place to see a large variety of birds. The entire trail has benches, picnic tables, fresh water and bathrooms. The area has plenty of parking.

Pelicans, clapper rail, burrowing owl, tern, Eurasian wigeon, long-billed curlew, sparrows, snowy egret, herons, mallard ducks, and much more can be seen here. Birds change with the seasons, and fall and spring are the best times to visit this park for bird watching.

The Pacific Flyway is a major north/south migration route for birds in the Americas going from Alaska to Patagonia. Every year, migratory birds travel in spring and in fall, following food sources and heading to breeding grounds.