Hi A.K.

"Flatter places" in the bay area? No easy to do!

I'm from farther south (Los Altos) but if I need to run flat, I sometimes run at Shorline park, but there are probably similar parks on the bay a bit farther north. It's dead flat, and you can do birdwatching while you run. Canada road is not flat but it's got pretty gentle hills. I actually drive up to Crystal Springs, too, which is one of the best.

Of course it's easy to find high school tracks for speedwork.

It's too bad you didn't ask about hilly runs: my list would have gone on forever :^)

Good luck!

Hi AK,
I live in Belmont too (near Water Dog Lake Park) and run at Crystal Springs alot. As you know, many of the good runs around here do in fact have hills so some of my favorites in Edgewood Park, Wunderlich Park, etc would not be good for you if you're trying to avoid them..

Some flat runs:

There's a trail that runs along Canada Rd (which I actually ran today) that is pretty flat. You can park in the lot near the intersection of Edgewood Rd and Canada Rd and the trail is just across the intersection. Since it parallels the road you never fully escape the sound of cars, however, there is not that much traffic there and they actually close that road on some weekends for bikers. Nice views off to the west and the Pulgas Water Temple is along the way too.

Bair Island down near San Carlos Airport is flat but I find it rather boring and it's close to 101 and the sound of that traffic compromises the experience. If you're interested, you access it at the sharp turn right near the 101 Norhtbound Whipple St offramp just down from the Century 12 Movie Theater near the Toyota dealer.

There's a real nice flat run to be had down in San Antonio park in Los Altos on the trail that leads out to Deer Hollow Farm. This is a farm with a few animals (sheep, pigs, chickens) and a public garden at a historical old homestead. It's about a mile out to the farm and if you keep going past there the trail remains flat for at least another mile. It takes about 20 minutes to drive there but it's well worth it.

It might be fun to take a run together sometime. How far do you usually go? I'm resting up right now for the 25k on Angel Island this weekend so I'm not available for a few days...
Cheers, John

You can run on the Bay Trail which is flat and nice, you can park at Oracle and just go! It's not as pretty as Cyrstal Springs but it is not as crowded either so you won't be dealing with baby stollers the first three miles ....