Directions to Crockett and the Zampa Bridge Dedication
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NOTE: Since the BART system doesn't start until 8 AM on Sundays, BART isn't really an option, not if you want to get to the ceremony before they cut the bike chain and the hordes of cyclists swarm onto the bridge.
It is an option to drive a personal automobile to the North Concord BART station and ride to the Bridge dedication, continue on to Vallejo, ferry to San Francisco, and then BART back to North Concord to pick up the car.
Another option is to Amtrak to Martinez, and bike to the Bridge dedication.
After the dedication, bike to North Concord BART and go home that way.
Directions from:
See EBBC's map of the area to get your bearings.
From North Concord BART station
- Bear left as you exit the paid area of the North Concord BART
station.
- Get out in the traffic lane of the Station access road. Proceed about
200 yards.
- At the traffic light, turn right onto Port Chicago Highway. Proceed
about a mile.
- Turn left onto Arnold Industrial Way. After a few miles, Arnold
Industrial Way turns into Imhoff Drive. (It is seamless, you probably
won't notice.) (be sure to hold your breath as you pass the oil refinery.)
You are cycling west parallel to Highway 4 on the north side. (Inhale and
exhale for a while, then hold your breath again as you pass the sewer
treatment plant.) In about 4 miles you'll come to the stop sign
- Turn left onto Blum Road and go under I-680. Proceed about 1/2 mile
- Turn right onto Pacheco Boulevard (be careful as you go under the
railroad tracks in the narrow underpass). You are cycling north
parallel to Highway I-680 on the west side. Proceed a couple of miles. At the first traffic light
- Turn left at Arthur Road to stay on Pacheco Boulevard (sounds like
screwy directions, but it will be obvious: first traffic light: turn
left. There is a gas station across the street. You can't miss it).
Follow Pacheco Boulevard into downtown Martinez. It is 3 or 4 miles.
(Hold your breath as you pass another oil refinery, but enjoy the bike lanes.)
Pacheco Boulevard does a jog and seamlessly becomes Pine Street. (Pass
the courthouse on your right.) Follow Pine Street until it dead ends.
- Turn left on Marina Vista and go a block or two. (Maybe it's only
one block, come to think of it.)
- Turn right on Ferry Street and go a block
- Turn left into the Martinez Intermodal (Amtrak) Station. Stop if you
want. Use the restrooms, buy a coffee. Research the schedules for your
next trip. Enjoy.
From Martinez Amtrak Station
- From he Martinez Intermodal (Amtrak) Station, the directions cloud a bit, but hang with me. We want to proceed west along the river. Follow the platform, but do not cross the bridge over the creek at the end of the platform. (That option reaches a dead end.) Instead, just before crossing the bridge at the end of the platform, hang a left and go through the parking lot about 50 yards, pass the transit buses, until you come to a bike-ped bridge that crosses the creek and lets you out in a SMALL (postage stamp sized) park.
- Hang a right and follow the cinder trail through the park about 200 feet and then get on
the street at the corner of the park. Continue to head generally down
river. You are looking for Carquinez Scenic Highway. You have to climb
a hill, but not an extremely steep one (work your way to the right to
avoid that one, but not too far right, otherwise you'll end up in Martinez
shoreline park, nice place, but another dead end.)
You'll know you are on the Carquinez Scenic Highway when you pass the
cemetaries, one on each side of the road.
- Proceed about 5 miles on Carquinez Scenic Highway. This used to be a
public road, but it was closed because of a land slide in the 1980s.
You'll
cross three gates. (just ignore the "no trespassing" signs.) Beautiful
area, huh? The Bay Trail folk plan to "upgrade" 1.7 miles of this route
to
full trail status at a cost of just slightly less than $10 million. Woo
D. (But that includes fixing the landslide.)
- Basically, continue straight on Carquinez Scenic Highway. You'll
pass
two turn-offs to the quaint town of Port Costa. (If we weren't hurrying
to
get to the bridge opening ceremony, Port Costa would warrant a side trip
and
perhaps lunch in the warehouse cafe.)
- Continue to continue straight another couple of miles,
maybe
three or four. When you have the opportunity, at an unsigned
intersection,
stay high rather than descending toward the river.
- Pretty soon you'll be heading down the main street of Crockett.
- Continue straight ahead. You can see ands hear our objective. Go
under
Interstate 80 and you'll see the parking lot where we will have the
ceremony
ahead on your right.
From West of the Hills (plus Lamorinda) via
Castro Ranch
The smoothest approach from the southwest would be to get to Castro Ranch Road and then take Castro Ranch to Pinole Valley and then proceed along Old Highway 40 (San Pablo Av->Parker Av (Rodeo)->San Pablo Av).
You could reach Castro Ranch by starting at Orinda and taking Camino
Pablo to Dam Road, or by starting at El Cerrito Del Norte and taking
'Key Route' to Dam Road. Note that if you start in Orinda, once you
reach Wildcat Canyon, arrows from the Grizzly Peak Century (refreshed
in late April) will guide you to the bridge on this route.
It's a bit longer than going straight up San Pablo Avenue, but it's
not as ugly and it has one hill at Castro Ranch replacing the Hilltop
and Tara Hills-Pinole divides. Appian Way might also work, but I find
the stretch Sobrante Way to the freeway to be a mess.
From El Cerrito del Norte BART and I-80 Bikeway
No silly, you don't ride the freeway! One of the easiest to follow routes to the Zampa Bridge Path in Crockett is to head north on the
Ohlone Trail from El Cerrito del Norte BART to Key Blvd, where the I-80
Bikeway to Rodeo begins. Follow the clearly marked route (Key Blvd,
Amador, San Pablo Dam Dr, Appian Way, San Pablo Ave) past the Rodeo
Transit Center and continue to Crockett.
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