Lower Guadalupe River Trail

I love the Lower Guadalupe Trail as a place to work on Time Trialing on my bike. It’s wide and flat with good visibility and several long straightaways. It’s also a great way to bike-​commute from the Bay to San Jose.
Lately there has been more security and police patrolling, especially on the San Jose side. I haven’t witnessed any suspicious activity here, and trash pickup happens at least once daily. That being said, I wouldn’t be comfortable jogging here alone at night.
There are some things that would improve the trail. Sometimes it ends without warning, only to continue on the other side of the road without being obvious. There is at least one short gravel section that makes me cross my fingers against flat tires. And if there was a way to improve shade or greenery along much of the trail, it would be much more suitable for a family walk.

I enjoy coming to this section of the Guadalupe River Trail for a stroll or jog because of its convenient location. It is close to the River Oaks light rail station and parking is easy if you drive. The trail hugs the creek which provides a change of scenery along the way. If you head north starting from Montague, it will lead you all the way to Alviso and Levi Stadium is in sight. A round trip makes a decent 6-​mile run. If you go south, you will come across the Shark Tank and downtown San Jose. In recent years, they have paved one side of this part of the trail so it is smooth for biking. Personally, I hope they keep the other side untouched for those who prefer gravel. There are also many walkers from the residential area nearby. We just need to be respectful and share this pleasant trail.

Me and my girlfriend road the trail last Saturday from Taylor street in San Jose to where we had to stop at 237 to get in the bay trail. We wound up going 23 miles to the Stanford mall. The Guadalupe river trail was the best part of that ride for us, very nice pavement which made for a nice peaceful ride, even got to see Levi stadium from it. Mostly flat small hills could be a little rough if your not use to riding a bike, but overall really good trail.

I have been riding this «park» for 25 years. I am 51.
Good point: There is a path from south of 280 to Alviso, that is paved.
Bad point: The path is not obvious through downtown and signage of the connecting route is non-​existent. At some points it dumps you into a homeless camp under the overpasses (Woz Way, San Carlos, and Park.) San Jo never completed the East Bank section fronting its property. The San Carlos underpass segment on the east side is completely disconnected and abandoned as a public toilet. A Public Shame.
Good Point: remember growing up and riding the BMX in the vacant dirt lot? From Julian to Hwy 880 is like that but with huge burns to crank on. Fun oasis of dirt in San Jo. Go ride with your nobby’s.
Bad Point: smell of Jet Fuel at takeoff.

I love this trail — run on it about twice a week between Montague and Tasman. I used to go up to Alviso but the segment crossing Tasman has been close for a couple of months now. The view of Levi stadium is a bonus too. Other than sharing the trail with other runners, cyclists, jiggers, sometimes hares, snakes, and goose come up and say hello!

I’ve biked this trail a few times between San Jose airport and downtown. The pavement is pretty good except there is a short unpaved portion by Coleman Road. Some of the dashed dividing lines have faded though, but if you follow them you will basically follow the main trailway. Its nice because there are lots of offshoots that connect roads and neighborhoods to the trail, but those do not have the yellow dashed line.
It can get a bit confusing by downtown. I think we had to cross the river twice by going up to the street level and then cross a final street to go through the park area. If you follow the signs and the dashed line though you’ll make it okay.
Also there is always a group or two of people hanging out at downtown under the underpasses. Sometimes its teens. Sometimes pot or alcohol is obviously involved, but I’ve never had am issue biking past these people. There are also homeless people, especially in the park area by Coleman. Because of this I wouldn’t go for running by myself here although the trail and creek and trees seem like a nice running area.

Awesome trail. I bike here almost everyday. Love the view. Good distance.

The Lower Guadalupe River Trail (LGR) is the 2^nd longest concurrent trail in Santa Clara County; with the Los Gatos Creek Trail being the longest (9-​miles vs 9.7-miles). However, once it’s linked up with the Upper Guadalupe River Trail –sometime in the future– it will be almost ±15-​miles long. The LGR is nicknamed «San Jose to the Bay» as it runs from the southern edge of the San Francisco Bay in Alviso to Downtown San José. Here are some of the high (and low) lights of the LGR:
–Mostly paved AC Trail which is a must for those of us that push a jogging stroller, or don’t like running/​walking on dirt.
–Most of the roadway crossings are under-​crossings except for St. John St. and Julian Ave.
–At the right times of year, the greenery can be beautiful and awe-​inspiring– just try not to pay too much attention to the debris in the river.
–A lot of San José’s major facilities and tourist destinations are accessible via the LGR. Here’s a (not-​so) short list: SJC; SAP Center (aka The Tank); Diridon Station; Heritage Rose Garden; Historic Town of Alviso; Children’s Discovery Museum; Tech Museum of Innovation; San José Convention Center; various parks (Columbus, Arena Green, Guadalupe River Gardens, etc); and even Levi’s Stadium will be accessible via the LGR.
–Not the most nature-​centric trail as you’re almost constantly surrounded by vehicles and freeways – you never get that lost in nature Zen that you may be seeking.
–Huge Local Outdoor Enthusiast (LOE) population that’s spread throughout the entire length of trail, but is heaviest in the Downtown area between Columbus Park and the Guadalupe River Gardens. I hate bashing the LOE but I’ve had various run-​ins with them on this section of trail and I’ve even had to call SJPD a few times because one maniac was brandishing a firearm.
The LGR is a classic example of how its greatest strength (accessibility, length, and proximity to key facilities) is also its greatest weakness. It’s not a bad trail on its surface, but I can’t really recommend coming on this trail alone, late at night or early in the morning; I know for a fact that there’s a boatload of shenanigans afoot at any given time. But if you feel adventurous then go right ahead – just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

This trail is so long… There are parts of it where the water is stagnant and it is kind of smelly. However, if you get to the part by the airport it is nice with flowing water. Of course it is loud, you are walking right next to the airport, but it is still a good walk. The lane is paved and is good for those walking or biking. I have seen lots of families on the trail so that is also great for those of you with kiddos! I have never walked or biked the full trail but hope to one day.

This Trail keeps on going and going and going… All throughout San Jose.
I run on the portion next to a golf course with a great view of the magnificent 49ers
Stadium being constructed. A plethora of diverse people Ride, Walk and Run
all throughout the trail… From early in the morning to right before dark you can find
someone trying to get some exercise in … My favorite person that I see 3 times
a week or so is the «backwards man» He walks the whole trail backwards it is
damn funny looking, but I imagine it works out a different set of muscles — I just
hope the «backwards man» can avoid walking blindly into a bike riding fool.

The new Guadalupe River Trail or should I say the new surface and the work they’ve done to improve this trail had been magnificent. I take the trail from W. Tasman Drive for run going towards the Mineta SJ International Airport which is approximately 5 miles. The trail have a new asphalt surface that is smooth for bicycle riding. I like the quarter mile marker they put in along the trail. I gave it 5 star good.

Watch out for the underpass at Tasman it’ll mess up your tires if you’re going too fast. Also, the trail north of the airport is all clean and well travelled. The trail is well maintained from the airport to Gold Street save for the aforementioned underpass 4.5 stars

I keep coming back to the Guadalupe Trail because it’s convenient, long, and the only uninterrupted biking/​running trail near downtown. I regret it every time.
The trail is not very well traveled. You will see very few people out on the trail, and among those you see, it’s mostly sketchy people. DO NOT GO IF YOU ARE A FEMALE BY YOURSELF. While running, I was chased by a man on a bicycle. I haven’t been back on the trail for a while since, but I wanted to check out the new section of the trail. I figured that since I was on a bicycle, I would be safe. Tonight, I passed a group of young men hanging out, and about a mile down the path I saw one of them booking it behind me. Considering I was on a road bike going 18 mph and he was an overweight guy on a fixie, I don’t think he was just going for a ride anymore. Luckily I was able to get off the path onto a street before he caught up to me. I’m generally not a scaredy-​cat and will run in most places and neighborhoods as long as they are people around. However, this trail is not populated enough to be safe for a woman.
I won’t be returning to the trail until I’m with a running partner/​bodyguard.

Just decided to try this trail out on July 4^th after reading other reviews the night before. I guess I picked up on all the good things people said about this trail.
Really even pavement, wide pathways, a lot of directional signs and mile markers, nice views (especially of the new 9ers stadium), nice people, restrooms and cool rest benches, off ramps to main streets and a really cool end point rest stop at Gold Street with people you can talk to.
Because of its gradual elevation decrease from San Jose to Alviso and then increase from Alviso to San Jose, it really makes it a great trail to bike.
I bike it from East San Jose then get on at Julian so I have to climb 2 overpasses before I start the trial. Coming back home really pushes my endurance and I love it!
Definitely my fav trail so far. Don’t plan to doing a night ride, but early weekend mornings are great.
Good riding ya’ll!

I live in south downtown San Jose, so i use this trail to get some miles on my road bike. I get on at Virginia St and head north towards Alviso, 9 miles each way. The trail goes back and forth over some bridges around downtown, but once you get to the airport you stay on the east bank of the river the last 5 miles. If ever in doubt just follow the dotted yellow line.
The trail is pretty flat and wide, and the newly paved section north of SJC is very smooth. In the afternoon heading north you hit a nice headwind, which makes it even better turning around to head south. You get a nice view of the new 49ers stadium along the way.
Not the best trail ever, but no complaints about a 18-​mile car-​free ride either.

I believe the entire trail is a little over 7 miles, 14 roundtrip but unfortunately I was only able to do a little over 8 miles because my monster was getting antsy in the stroller. I decided walk the trail on Sunday for various reasons: a) groceries completed Saturday, b) laundry completed Saturday, c) free parking on Sundays, and d) decided to rest my body instead of going to the gym. I parked right across from the HP Pavilion — Home of the Sharks!
Both of us seemed to enjoy the peaceful and serene surrounding. Cristal C. is right about the even paved roads. This trail is very stroller-​friendly! I saw a guy jogging w/​his stroller and it made me envious because I can’t do that w/​the stroller that I have currently. That just means that I need to check
for used strollers geared for jogging. I need to find a bike trailer, too because once the sun is shining its rays down on us, I would like to be able to bike around to a) burn calories, b) build lower body strength, c) save on gas, and d) eleminate the hassle of finding parking (not to mention the majority of drivers out there are idiots).
Not a scenic trail by any means. I saw a lot of litter *sad* which makes me want to return to this trail to organize a «clean up day» because I like to do stuff like this. This is our trail and if we don’t take care of it, who will? I do understand there are a lot of homeless folks that reside on this very trail… it was even on the news this morning on KTVU. I just feel that we need to take better care of our environment and our people… some people are homeless due to the choices they have made (drugs, alcohol, etc.) but there are a few out there that are homeless simply because they got laid-​off or because they can’t make ends meet. I was hanging by a thread for a long ass time so I empathize greatly.
As I walked, my monster kept me at peace, I started to recall good memories that happened not too long ago. Like when Kevin drove from SoCal to see me in June 2012. Our first meal together was at Smoke Eaters; I don’t know how much exposure he has w/​kids but he gave my monster a piece of fry and it nearly choked the kid [haha]. On a separate weekend, we had a long albeit fun day in Monterey, we went to Safeway to get jambalaya and jalapeño bread; that was our late night dinner whilst sitting on my futon watching American Dad via Netflix. We had our first date (no kids) the second weekend we spent together… we watched Ted at the theater located at Santana Row. He asked me to the movies before ever meeting me. Having a long distance relationship calls for a lot of arguments, compromises, and the anticipation of when we’ll be able to see each other next. I miss him dearly.
I was also thinking about weddings. No, not my wedding but my best friend’s wedding. I’m one of her bridesmaids so I need to start looking for a dress. I want a corset-​style dress. I want the dress to be a flattering dark fall color (her colors are orange, brown, olive green, dark red), short in length (above the knees), and long-​sleeves… hell, I might need to have it made especially for Tram! I don’t know why but I’m excited and that excitement just started. I blame Cuc Crystal N. because of her review and awesome pictures of Vera Wang, San Francisco. I am starting the complete P90X program today so that my upper body (back, deltoids, biceps, and triceps) will be toned for the wedding. My legs are the only thing about me that I’m actually happy w/​but thankfully the program is a complete full body home bootcamp. I do have Insanity, too but I’ll save the cardio for the gym and doing trails such as this. I’m just a bridesmaid and I’m going crazy already — hair, makeup, shoes, body fat %, dress must flatter body and look fabulous, how to smile [haha], pedicure, etc., etc. I can’t imagine how insane I’ll be when it’s my own wedding.
I’m typing freely and that’s what being on the trail made me feel. I was thinking freely and smiled a lot to myself from the memories and future endeavours that I will embark on. Here are the things on my to-​do list:
— start volunteer journey at Heartland Hospice
— use all my baking ingredients and bake for the 2 fire stations nearby
— find tickets for San Francisco Giants’ April 6 game
— find tickets for San Jose Shark’ March 28 game
— look up airfares
— start shopping for Kevin’s birthday (I won’t be publicizing my check-​ins!!)
What a great start to my week. Happy Monday!!!

Walked on this trail over the weekend. Started on Coleman and before we knew it we were at the airport. The trail is nicely paved and big enough to have bikes and runner pass you without being rude about it. Who knew a park inbetween a freeway and a mainstreet right next door to downtown could be so serene.
What I like most about this trail is that dogs are allowed. Its been harder and harder to find nice places to walk our dog. But beware we did run into a skunk once and were pretty close to being sprayed.
A good portion of the trail is preserved so your not able to walk on the other side of the river. Theres lots of different types of birds. We even saw a crane last time. I suggest bringing water and other sun protection since most of the trail isnt covered the sun just beams on you.

I bike this trail 8 miles a day, 5 days a week and 160 miles a month. It’s part of my work commute. I’d like to think that, after 5 months and over 800 miles, I have a sufficient amount of data to write a Unilocal review. So, here are the pros and cons of the Guadalupe River Trail:
Pros:
— The best way to avoid San Jose traffic via bicycle
— Interesting wildlife. Feral cats and a few ducks and skunks
— Multiple paths that go lead up to or under the intersecting
— Clear view of planes flying super low and landing at SJC
— Public bathrooms
Cons:
— Detours galore! Let’s hope they finish the construction one day
— Trail turns into gravel/​dirt path around the airport
— Homeless hangouts. There are a lot of questionable people sleeping below the bridges, sometimes blocking the entire path
— Poorly lit at night. Bad for winter commuters
The Guadalupe River Trail is A-​OK. It works, but could be better. However, it’s by far the best way to cut through San Jose on two wheels.

Mixed feelings. I love that this trail cuts through the city and allows you to not be on the road with cars (because folks downtown honestly aren’t that cyclist-​friendly and aren’t good at sharing the road). The pavement is nice and in the summer it’s nice to bike along the river because it’s cool.
That’s the end of the nice things though.
1) not much lighting, so not a good option for night time
2) lots of homeless people in encampments under the overpasses. Pretty sure they were responsible for a brush fire that happened there a month ago.
3) the design is inconsistent and sometimes you’ll end up on the side of a road and not know where to go
4) the signs for the detour toward Target are off. They direct you in a way you actually can’t go.
5) some of the turns are way too sharp to take in an efficient manner as a cyclist, and there are big cement dividers that make it impossible to see if anyone is coming the other way around a curve…
6) broken glass from booze bottles intermittently throughout the trail. Watch carefully.
This could be improved if San Jose had the money, but until then it’s functional but not the best it could be. It’s a nice safer commute option for bicyclists for rainy days at least.

First of all, I don’t know what some people are complaining about. I read some of the reviews and we’re just lucky we have a trail to run, bike, and walk our dogs.
It has been a blessing to have this trail to train for my marathon. There are many ways to access this trail. This trail is a little over 20 miles, so it’s perfect! On my longer runs, I would run down past 237 to Alviso and down to San Jose International Airport. If you continue all the way down it will lead you to the Rose Garden in San Jose.
I never had any problems running on this trail. There are rocky, dirt, and paved paths along the way. You also run under levees to avoid the streets. If the levees are flooded then you just run across the street to get to the other side of the trail. I’ve been seeing the same people using this trail, so it’s always nice to see familiar faces. Of course, don’t use this trail or any other trails when it gets dark.
I had to knock down a star due to the litter along the levees. People PLEASE don’t litter! Also, this is a LEASHED dog trail. I almost stepped on an unleashed little chihuahua once while running. There’s also a man with two big rottweilers that does the same thing. Hopefully, I don’t get attacked one of these days by them: ox