Directions to Bayfront Park in Pinole
What To Google
Bayfront Park is easy to find if you type its name.
Directions From Richmond, Albany, El Cerrito and Berkeley
On highway 80, turn left at the ramp and take the Pinole Valley Road exit west toward the water. Pinole Valley Rd turns into Tennent Ave. Drive all the way to its end past the train tracks to get inside the parking lot to your left. Park on Railroad Ave (just before the train tracks) because the small parking lot has a two-hour limit. We will meet in the parking lot adjacent to the water treatment plant.
Description
Right before the track to your left is the beautiful victorian Fernández Mansion. After you cross the tracks, just before you enter the parking lot, is the Bay Trail. If you walk on the trail to your right and pass the water treatment plant, you will find Pinole Creek. If you continue walking in the direction of the water, you will find a jetty. Past the parking lot to your left is a slough and the beach. Farther out you’ll be able to see Pinole Shores Park bluff and the elevated pedestrian bridge that connects both parks across the slough at a cost of 13.2 million. Bayfront Park has bathrooms, several shade trees and benches. Its trails are paved.
History
The Pinole region belonged to the Huchiuni people, whose territory extended from Berkeley to somewhere between Rodeo and Crockett. European colonization of this area began at its waterfront and around the mouth of Pinole Creek during the latter half of the 19th Century. In 1823, Comandante Ignacio Martinez received a land grant comprised of the land then known as El Pinole. During the 1850's Bernardo Fernandez started a mercantile business by the waterfront. Here he built a supply store, constructed warehouses and wharves, hauled farm products and handled the mail. Their 22-room mansion was the third home of the Fernández family and is an excellent example of Second Empire French, a rare style in the area. By 1903 Pinole’s wharf boasted a post office, a newspaper (The Pinole Weekly Times), a school, several hotels, saloons, and stores and two churches. On the intersection of Tennent and Railroad there is a plaque describing the Hay Schooner Carlotta, one of a fleet of ships owned by Fernandez and used to transport grain around the bay. It sank in the early 1900s and was uncovered and raised in May 15, 1976. Not too far away is a memorial for the Chinese laborers who toiled in anonymity at the Hercules Powder Works Factory from 1881 until 1912.