The Golden Gate Audubon Society has tips for birding Coyote Hills Regional Park.

White-tailed Kite, Northern Harrier, Red-shouldered Hawk, and Great Horned Owl are a few of the more common sightings.  Osprey, Peregrine Falcon, and Merlin make frequent visits. (Rare sightings include Rough-legged Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, and Pygmy Owl.) And for the herp-lover, the resident Red-tailed Hawk will give you a nice display of the local reptile species while it soars by with a garter or gopher snake in its talons.

Coyote Hills Regional Park was dedicated in 1967. The park comprises 1,266 acres of marshland and rolling grassland-covered hills. This busy park is located along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, northwest of the cities of Fremont and Newark. The most popular visitor activities are hiking, jogging, bicycling, bird watching, nature exploration, and picnicking. Well used every season of the year; spring, summer, and fall tend to be the most popular. But the park's winter beauty is wonderful to behold.

Hikes through Coyote Hills afford scenic vistas of San Francisco Bay and surrounding areas of Southern Alameda County. Ramble 'round a marsh or climb to the top of Red Hill to catch the breeze. For detailed information on trail lengths and terrain, see the park map or talk with staff in the visitor center. Other attractions of interest include the Marsh Boardwalk and the 3.5-mile Bayview Trail, a paved loop trail for hiking and bicycle riding. There are wonderful scenic views of San Francisco Bay and the peninsula hills to the west from the park's hilltops.

The waters to the west and south of Coyote Hills are part of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Shoreline, No Name, Apay Way and Alameda Creek trails provide access to the Refuge for hikers and bicycle riders. Apay Way leads to the Refuge Visitor Center via a bridge over the top of the CA-84/Dumbarton Bridge toll booths. 

The East Bay area's original inhabitants were the ancestors of the Ohlone Indians, hunters, and gatherers whose skills enabled them to live well off the land's natural bounty. In those days, tule elk roamed the land, condors soared overhead, and sea otters and fish were abundant in the Bay. At Coyote Hills Regional Park, some of this rich wetland is preserved, along with 2,000-year-old Tuibun Ohlone Indian shell mound sites with fascinating archaeological resources.

The park's rich and varied history also includes Mission and settler ranching and farming activities, salt production, a duck hunting club, a dairy, rock quarrying, a military NIKE missile site, and a biosonar research facility. Now a Regional Park, this area is preserved for recreation, and educational and nature experiences for all to enjoy.

The AllTrails website has descriptions and maps of hikes at Coyote Hills Regional Park.