If passed, the Bay Area Ridge Trail would join the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Ice Age Trail, and eight more hikes in the federally-protected system.
Bay Area Ridge Trail (Photo: Sundry Photography / iStock via Getty)
Updated January 29, 2026 12:25PM
On January 28, U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (D-CA) and U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced a bill that would designate Northern California’s Bay Area Ridge Trail as a National Scenic Trail. If successful, the designation would also help to add about another 150 miles to the existing 400-mile network.
The concept of the Bay Area Ridge Trail was first publicly introduced in the late 1900s when William Penn Mott, Jr., the Director of the National Park Service and the East Bay Regional Park and California State Parks introduced the concept of uniting the bridges in the Bay Area with one continuous trail. By 1987, the National Park Service, the Greenbelt Alliance, and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area formed the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council to put their dreams into action. Just two years later, the first segment of the trail was dedicated. Over the next six years, the council quickly established another 200 miles of the route, creating the infrastructure for the trail that exists today.
Today, the Bay Area Ridge Trail connects over 145 parks and open spaces through San Francisco Bay, Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Berkeley, Oakland, the Peninsula, San Jose and Fremont where it functions as a multi-use trail where hikers, equestrians, and cyclists recreate. The bill would instruct the National Park Service to conduct a feasibility study within a year to ensure that the trail meets all of the necessary classifications of a National Scenic Trail, such as being a non-motorized route of more than 100 miles and including landforms with regional significance.
Marie Sayles, the Development Director of the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council told Backpacker that this is the first time legislation has been introduced to designate the Bay Area Ridge Trail as a National Scenic Trail, and that the designation would benefit the trail by providing funding opportunities, partnership development, trail protection, and public awareness and support.
Sayles said, “The Ridge Trail offers something truly special—a long-distance hiking experience that showcases the incredible natural beauty and biodiversity right in the backyard of a major metropolitan area. National recognition would honor that significance while helping us complete and protect this vision for generations to come.”
Currently, just 11 trails have the National Scenic Trail designation across the country, including popular long-distance routes like the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail, as well as lesser known routes like the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, and the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail.
“The Bay Area Ridge Trail Act will help us understand how to best preserve accessibility for exploration of the beautiful landscape that defines and surrounds our region,” wrote longtime San Francisco Representative and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. “By studying the Ridge Trail’s future, we take an important step toward recognizing its national significance and ensuring that it can be enjoyed for generations to come.”