Chabot Park is a more developed companion to its neighbor, Redwood Park. The two parks are separated only by narrow Redwood Road, and with an interconnected trail system, you can hike or bike for hours on a long segment of the the Bay Area Ridge Trail, through both parks. While Redwood is dominated by its namesake trees, Chabot features a lake, meadows and grassland, eucalyptus forests. At the southeastern end of Chabot, Lake Chabot is a focal point, and the area has been developed with a public golf course, shooting range (not so nice to hear those guns going off during our ride), numerous family campgrounds, and kid's marina with paddle boats. Fortunately the northwestern edge, which borders Redwood Park, and the middle of Chabot are less developed. Chabot is more of a family park with all these urban park activities. Hikers and bikers seem more at home the less developed Redwood park. Still Lake Chabot is a gem and this loop is worth a visit.

Our ride - unfortunately we got a late start and rode during the hotest part of the day. 2.5 hours, 1500 ft gain and hot! Circling the lake, the route we took is well marked as a bike loop. You'll need a mt bike with big gears although a cross bike might work as well. We encountered some surprisingly steep grades, living often in the granny gear.