Five Canyons Open Space

I actually really enjoyed this trail from the end of Boulder Canyon Ct. There was nobody parked in the court, which was awesome, and I only came across one family and two couples during my two and a half hour hike as far as Garin Regional in Hayward.
Keep an eye out for cow droppings as the cows to roam! Hawks overhead looking for prey.
Along the Chabot to Garin trail (closer to Garin) I did see a doe and her fawn, very cool, along with the usual lizards flitting along the trail edges, and heard a woodpecker at one point. Gotta love wildlife!

Great place to walk the dog.

It’s a small open space preserve with some trails connected from Don Castro to Garin Regional Parks. Parking is in the residential area right at the ends of streets. Watch for dog poop left behind by pet owners along with cattle (if they happen to be grazing at the time) and bicyclists.

This is a very small regional park connecting Don Castro to Garin. The tough climb to the water tower offers awesome views of SF, the South Bay, and Palomares Canyon. Decending to the canyon trails to the South, you’ll often see deer and coyotes. Cows graze on the trails so watch your step!

Mom and Dads Backyard… Hey what can I say… ITS CUTS…

This is a very small park, however the trails branch out throughout the hills of East Bay and can make for quite an adventure. The park offers swimming, fishing, biking, running, hiking and many other activities. It is very simple to get to but the actual park map lacks a lot if you want to take full advantage of the trails. I pretty much had to guess most of the time which direction to go and went the wrong way a few times, but luckily the park is so small that backtracking was not an issue. The trail connects with a large loop that will take you up to a ridge at the top of 5 Canyons that overlooks the entire bay, you can see all the way to Cal State East Bay and over to SF on a clear day, it was well worth the time spent figuring out where to go, if you follow the trail it continues along a ridge that will go for miles and miles, I ended up cutting out after about 5 miles and taking a surface street through 5 Canyons back to the park and my car. It was a great trail for a run and I will definitely be doing ti again.

This place is pretty cool. I have never had a problem. People walking their dogs and people fishing are very nice. Every one minds their own business and you can fish in peace.
Not one time has a park officer come to bother me. It is truly relaxing.

This area is filled with hiking trails all within minutes of Downtown Hayward.
To some, the proximity to the Five Canyons housing development is a turn off, but I think that its a great opportunity to get people from the community outside even if it’s only a few feet from their doorsteps.
Stick to the shoulder months as summers bring unbearable heat and winter often makes the trails extremely muddy.
Enter from Don Castro, or park your car in one of the residential neighborhoods.
Watch for horses and bicycles.