Alameda Creek Trail
12 mile long bike trail follows the Alameda Creek flood-control channel from the hills to the bay. The paved trail is entirely car-free thanks to underpasses beneath each cross-street. About two miles from the bay, you can optionally go to Coyote Hills for a good view. From there, you can proceed south to the Don Edwards Wildlife refuge, and then west to the bike lane over the Dumbarton Bridge. Starting from the easternmost point on the trail at the Niles Staging Area on Old Canyon Road means that you will generally go downwind last when you are most tired.
Coyote Hills Regional Park
Good place for hiking, biking, picnicking, and wildlife viewing. Isolated small hill near the bay with a great view of San Francisco on a clear day.
Mission Peak
A great place for a challenging hike where you are rewarded with a very nice view of the Bay Area. The peak overlooks the Santa Clara valley and the Bay. To the east you can see Livermore and on a clear day, the Sierra Nevada. Bring a coat in the Fall and Winter.
Niles Canyon Railway
On the first and third Sunday of each month you can take a train ride on what was known as the Historic Transcontinental Gateway to the San Francisco Bay. The railway offers scenic one-hour locomotive excursions through the very canyon where Charlie Chaplin's "The Tramp" was filmed.