Touring * Fitness * Beginner * Street * Artistic *

From U.S. 101 going north from San Francisco or south from San Rafael, take the Tamalpais/Paradise Drive exit to Corte Madera and head east toward the San Francisco Bay. Turn left at Redwood Highway, which veers north; Paradise Drive runs south.

A short distance up Redwood Highway, you can park on a gravel pad right next to the trail.

From this corner of the Tiburon peninsula, you can see the Richmond Bridge crossing the San Francisco Bay to the north--just one more of those spectacular views that can be easy to miss and hard to appreciate on a bad-weather day. This may be one of the shorter locations to skate, but it's a good spot for beginners and doesn't seem to attract the hoards you'll find in other Marin County locations. You'll be slightly exposed to the sun and the wind as you skate along this totally flat, treeless, wide open stretch of pavement, near enough to the bay that only seaside scrub is between you and the water. Bay breezes will usually keep you cool on the sunniest of days, but as always when spending the day outside, coat yourself in a high SPF sunscreen before you start your skate.

The trail heading north is close to the noisy freeway, while the trail south toward San Clemente and Paradise Drives has a few trees and is more protected from sand blowing from the bay.

At the southern termination of the dedicated path, road skating experts can make an 8.5-mile loop encircling the entire Tiburon peninsula. Some serious Bay Area skaters make this a regular workout routine, but they're skilled enough to successfully handle steep hills, blind curves, and an absolute absence of paved shoulders while confidently maneuvering on sometimes wet pavement. It's safer if you can convince two crews of bicyclists to both lead and follow your group of skaters to help control automobile traffic. (Trestle Glen Drive, about four miles west of U.S. 101, is the connecting road that you take to return from the south side of the peninsula to the north.)