The East Bay Regional Park District calls the Lafayette-Moraga Regional Trail a 7.65-mile linear park. It runs parallel to St. Mary's Road through Lafayette and Moraga and is open to hikers, cyclists and horseback riders. Wikipedia says it was one of the first rail trails built in California.
The route
- North end: A staging area at Olympic Boulevard and Pleasant Hill Road in Lafayette, south of Highway 24.
- Along the way: The trail passes Moraga Commons park, Saint Mary's College, Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School and Lafayette Elementary, and runs near Lafayette Community Park, according to Wikipedia.
- South end: EBMUD's Valle Vista staging area at the edge of Moraga, bordering San Leandro Reservoir and Redwood Regional Park.
Hiking on EBMUD land past Valle Vista requires a permit. Wikipedia says the permit costs $10 and that Valle Vista connects to the Redwood Trail and the Rocky Ridge Trail.
Connections
Via 3rd Street in Lafayette, the trail links to the Briones to Las Trampas Regional Trail, and it is part of the larger Lamorinda Trail Loop. Wikipedia says Lafayette BART is less than a mile from where the trail meets 3rd Street and Moraga Boulevard. The park district notes County Connection lines 106 and 206 connect to the Lafayette BART station, with no bus service on Sundays.
From mule trains to bikes
The park district says the corridor was once used by mule trains carrying redwood from Oakland to Sacramento. Later, steam trains on the Oakland-Antioch and Eastern, San Francisco-Sacramento and Sacramento Northern railroads used it. After the railroads were abandoned, it became a utility easement, then a trail built with Lafayette, Moraga, the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District, EBMUD and PG&E.
Nearby, Lafayette Reservoir and Briones Regional Park make good add-ons.