San Diego’s Bayshore Bikeway

The Bayshore Bikeway is a growing 16-mile trail encircling the San Diego Bay and connecting the region’s most beautiful natural and cultural treasures. Part of the larger 515-mile San Diego Regional Bike Plan as well as the southern terminus of the 1,200-mile planned California Coastal Trail, the bikeway is playing an important role in a statewide effort to create new avenues for health, recreation and active transportation.

Learn more about the development of the Bayshore Bikeway at Keep San Diego Moving. And don't miss our upcoming feature article on the bikeway in the Fall 2018 issue of Rails to Trails magazine!

Produced by Rails to Trails magazine. Story and photos by Cindy Barks.

View full photo essay with captions by clicking on the first photo. Scroll through the slideshow using the right and left arrows.

The historic Hotel del Coronado sits just steps from Coronado Island’s Bayshore Bikeway, which runs along the bay side of the narrow island. The oceanfront path that fronts the 1888-era hotel offers a scenic detour for bikeway runners, walkers and cyclists. | Photo by Cindy Barks A Bayshore Bikeway cyclist navigates an intersection about 4.5 miles south of the City of Coronado, near the Silver Strand State Beach. The park features a long stretch of sandy beach along the Pacific coastline. | Photo by Cindy Barks The South Bay Marine Biology Study Area is a popular spot not just for cyclists and runners, but for bird-watchers and nature lovers as well. A nearby parking lot makes the area an easy stop for sightseers. | Photo by Cindy Barks A large palm tree offers a shady stopping area along the Bayshore Bikeway near Imperial Beach. The area, located south of the City of Coronado, features sweeping views of the San Diego Bay to the east. | Photo by Cindy Barks The Bikeway Village area, located in Imperial Beach, not far from Chula Vista, is a popular stop-off spot for cyclists and runners. The business center includes a bike shop and a coffee shop. | Photo by Cindy Barks The Bayshore Bikeway on Coronado Island is dotted with overlook areas featuring interpretive signs, memorials and landscaped side trails. | Photo by Cindy Barks Views of the soaring San Diego-Coronado Bridge are visible along much of the Bayshore Bikeway on Coronado Island. The Silver Strand Nature’s Bridge to Discovery provides an overlook of the bay and the bridge. | Photo by Cindy Barks Silver Strand State Beach on the western edge of Coronado Island attracts dozens of wind surfers on sunny, gusty days. The state beach can be accessed from the Bayshore Bikeway, which runs along the eastern side of the island. | Photo by Cindy Barks Colorful sunset views of the San Diego skyline and the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge are the reward for an evening stroll along the Bayshore Bikeway near the Coronado Ferry Landing. The ferry, which runs from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., transports sightseers and cyclists between Coronado Island and San Diego. | Photo by Cindy Barks Morning commuters disembark from the ferry at the Coronado Ferry Landing on Coronado Island. The ferry carries users between the island and San Diego. | Photo by Cindy Barks The Flagship Ferry at the Coronado Ferry Landing on Coronado Island. The ferry carries users between the island and San Diego. | Photo by Cindy Barks Tidelands Park, the largest of Coronado’s parks, features a combination of biking, playground and boating opportunities. The Bayshore Bikeway runs alongside the park, which is located along the San Diego Bay, not far from the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge. | Photo by Cindy Barks As the Bayshore Bikeway passes by the historic Hotel del Coronado (on the left), it transitions to a separated path in the middle of the traffic lanes along CA 75/Silver Strand Boulevard. | Photo by Cindy Barks Although the Bayshore Bikeway intersects with traffic in a number of spots—including near Silver Strand Boulevard and Orange Avenue—plenty of signage and striping helps to guide trail users. | Photo by Cindy Barks The Bluewater Boathouse is among the pretty sights greeting users of the Bayshore Bikeway as it traverses the edge of Glorietta Bay along Silver Strand Boulevard. | Photo by Cindy Barks The “My Bike” sculpture, a work by artist Amos Robinson, soars above Coronado’s Tidelands Park. Across the Bay, the San Diego skyline provides a backdrop. | Photo by Cindy Barks The San Diego Regional Bike Plan takes in coastal regions to the north of San Diego, including the bustling Del Mar City Beach, where parks, sandy beaches and train tracks converge. | Photo by Cindy Barks The northern San Diego-area shoreline is visible from an overlook at La Jolla’s Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve. The San Diego Regional Bike Plan encompasses the area. | Photo by Cindy Barks The flat, paved surface of the Bayshore Bikeway attracts a variety of wheeled transports, including bicycles, three-wheelers and rollerblades. Runners and walkers also frequent the separated section of trail that fronts the San Diego Bay. | Photo by Cindy Barks Bike sharing is available along Imperial Beach’s section of the Bayshore Bikeway through LimeBike. The program operates a dockless bike-sharing system along the Bikeway. | Photo by Cindy Barks A bridge near the Bikeway Village commercial center in Imperial Beach takes Bayshore Bikeway users across a section of the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge. | Photo by Cindy Barks Massive old trees line the Bayshore Bikeway as it skirts the Coronado Municipal Golf Course. Signs along the way guide users to an assortment of attractions. | Photo by Cindy Barks The Bayshore Bikeway passes under the massive San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge, offering a peek at the bridge from the bottom up. | Photo by Cindy Barks A ferry ride from Coronado to San Diego takes riders to the Broadway Pier, near the start of the Bayshore Bikeway. Also nearby: a California version of the “Unconditional Surrender” sculpture depicting a famous photograph taken in New York City’s Times Square on V-J Day in 1945. The statue is located next to the USS Midway Museum. | Photo by Cindy Barks Near San Diego’s “Unconditional Surrender” statue is a “National Tribute to Bob Hope and the Military,” a series of sculptures that honor the comedian who spent decades entertaining U.S. troops around the world. | Photo by Cindy Barks

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