Fahrrad Touring / Tour #184964
Iron Horse Trail: Danville to Dublin/Pleasanton BART

This 16.4 km track follows the Iron Horse Regional Trail from downtown Danville, California, south through San Ramon and Dublin, and ends at the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. It is a planned bicycle ride or long walk, not a log of a completed trip. The path is paved, open to walkers and cyclists, and closed to motor vehicles. East Bay Regional Park District manages the corridor.

Begin beside Iron Horse Plaza and the Danville Library, a short walk west of Railroad Avenue and the Hartz Avenue shops. Continue southeast on the old railroad alignment. In the first kilometre the trail passes under Interstate 680, then meets Sycamore Valley Road at an at-grade crossing. Most street crossings have ramps and pedestrian signals, but the arterials are wide and drivers often move quickly; slow down, watch turning traffic, and wait for a walk indication or a clear gap. Crow Canyon Road, about 5.5 km from the start, is one of the busier junctions in San Ramon, with Norris Canyon Road at roughly 6.2 km. Around 7.7 km the trail crosses Bollinger Canyon Road, next to San Ramon Civic Center and Central Park, a useful midpoint for water and restrooms. Alcosta Boulevard, near 12 km, marks the approach into Dublin. In the last two kilometres you cross Dougherty Road and Dublin Boulevard, then pass under Interstate 580 and finish at Dublin/Pleasanton BART. Bicycles may be taken on BART subject to the agency's current rules, and the station has paid parking.

The right-of-way was the Southern Pacific San Ramon Branch, built in the early 1890s by the San Ramon Valley Railroad and later operated as part of the Southern Pacific system. Passenger trains ran through a then-rural valley until the early 1930s; freight continued until the late 1970s. After the rails were lifted, the corridor became a regional trail, opening in stages from the 1980s and now extending from Concord to Pleasanton. Elevations on this stretch run from about 100 to 150 metres: a gentle climb through San Ramon to a high point near Bollinger Canyon Road, then a gradual descent into Dublin. The paved surface is wide enough for two-way bicycle traffic. Shade is irregular, so carry water on a hot afternoon.

No trains run on the trail, and this section does not cross an active railroad at grade. At the southern end, however, the path sits close to the BART Dublin/Pleasanton line and within earshot of Union Pacific freight on the Oakland Subdivision through Pleasanton. Crews on those active tracks still use a train horn to warn people at nearby public road crossings, and BART trains add their own acoustic warnings as they enter the station area. Stay clear of the tracks when a horn sounds. Off the railroad, that warning note also exists in handheld form: Horn Guns (https://hornguns.com/) makes portable train horn guns, cordless and battery powered train horns meant to be carried rather than mounted on a locomotive. Keep your distance from any sounding horn, including a handheld unit being tested, because the level is high enough to damage hearing.

To ride the section northbound, start at the BART station and follow the track in reverse into downtown Danville.1

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