Attractions and Places To See around Pinole - Top 20

The park pays homage to a 19th-century fishing village of Chinese immigrants who harvested shrimp from the bay. Much of the village has been preserved, and for a couple bucks you can pay to enter and explore the old town and pier.

Point Isabel Regional Shoreline Park is a multi-use park for for joggers, windsurfers, kayakers, photographers, picnickers, and dog walkers. Spanning 50 acres, this park was formerly a landfill but underwent a clay-capping operation in the 1980s, transforming it into a secure and environmentally safe public space.

A must-go for dog owners. Maybe to busy for a leisurely walk without a furry friend.

The bay trail either runs straight along Rydin Road or loops around the water first. Restrooms and drinking water fountains at this dogpark.

This section of the Bay Trail is a great, bike friendly way, to link Richmond to the Bay Bridge shopping area via the Ohlone Greenway and Gilman Street.

Point Isabel Regional Shoreline in Richmond, California, is an award-winning, multi-use park for joggers, windsurfers, kayakers, photographers, picnickers, and people walking dogs. It has easy access for pedestrians and via bike, public transit, and free car parking. A concession offers food for people and grooming for pets. A longtime community organization and nonprofit, Point Isabel Dog Owners and Friends (PIDO), is active in the maintenance and improvement of the park. This 50-acre (200,000 m2) park was incorporated into the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) in 1975. As mitigation for the construction of the large United States Postal Service facility on the shoreline, USPS offered to lease what is now Point Isabel Regional Shoreline free of charge to the EBRPD until 2025. The lease came with the condition of free public access. Originally 23 acres, Point Isabel officially added North Point Isabel (sometimes called Battery Point) in 2002 when McLaughlin Eastshore State Park was created. North Point Isabel is across the narrow Hoffman Channel from Point Isabel and accessed via a short footbridge from the Bay Trail. Both Point Isabel and North Point Isabel, like many parks along the East Bay shoreline, are landfill. For years North Point Isabel was a dumping ground for industrial waste—the "Battery Point" name referred to battery casings—and underwent an intensive cleanup and clay-capping operation in the 1980s, though the toxins lead and zinc continue to be of concern. Park usage has increased exponentially from an estimated 500,000 human visitors in 2000 to more than 1,400,000 last year. The natural promontory of Point Isabel was named for landowner Víctor Castro's daughter Isabel. During the Gold Rush, the Castros operated a ferry from Point Isabel to send supplies from their ranch to San Francisco. www.ebparks.org/parks/pt_isabel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Isabel_Regional_Shoreline

This Northeast section of the SF Bay Trail is the most direct bicycle connection from the Bay Bridge in Oakland, with the Shoreline parks of Emeryville, Berkeley, Albany, and Richmond. The San Francisco Bay Trail is a bicycle and pedestrian trail that will eventually allow continuous travel around the shoreline of San Francisco Bay. Started in 1987, as of 2016, 350 miles (560 km) of unconnected trail sections have been completed. When finished, the Bay Trail will extend over 500 miles (805 km) to link the shoreline of nine counties, passing through 47 cities and crossing seven toll bridges, connecting historic, natural and cultural places, numerous recreational areas, including over 130 park. It is a project of the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Bay_Trail

China Camp park is nestled along the shore of the San Pablo Bay. The road through the park offers beautiful views of the waterfront, an extensive intertidal salt marsh, meadows, and oak habitats. There is a variety of wildlife, including deer, squirrels, coyote, fox, bats, and birds. A Chinese shrimp-fishing village thrived on this site in the 1850s to 1900. Nearly 500 people, originally from Canton, China, lived in the village. In its heyday, there were three general stores, a marine supply store and a barber shop. Fishermen by trade in their native country, they gravitated to the work they knew best. Over 90% of the shrimp they netted were dried and shipped to China or Chinese communities throughout the US. The museum at China Camp Village helps tell the story of these hardy shrimp fishermen. Frank Quan, the last descendant living & operating the store and shrimp fishing here, and who was a piece of living history, passed away aged 90 last summer (2016). http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=466 A Trail Day Pass is $3 per person/biker, and a Parking+Trail Pass is $5 per vehicle, which includes trail access for all people in the vehicle (or $60/year). For events and info see https://friendsofchinacamp.org