Fremont

Ardenwood is a 200-acre working farm founded in 19th century and was the home of gold miner and sharecropper George Patterson. On Thursdays through Sundays, park staff and volunteers dress in Victorian costumes and demonstrate farm chores. Visitors can help with the crops, visit the farm animals, ride a hay wagon or horse-drawn train, and observe a blacksmith at work.

Huge park south of the Fremont BART station (bounded by Paseo Padre Pkwy, Stevenson Blvd, and the Union Pacific Railroad) with paved trails around Lake Elizabeth and with Mission Peak as backdrop. Great for a picnic, kite-flying or exercise. Aqua Adventure water park anchors the south side of the park (off Paseo Padre near Grimmer). Moving north on Paseo Padre, one finds the Community, Senior, and Visitor Centers, respectively. Boat rentals available at the Boathouse near the Visitor Center. Along the Stevenson Blvd edge of the park are the Fremont Main Library and Police Department. The north side of the park supports 6 softball fields, 10 soccer/football fields, and 18 tennis courts.

The baylands around the south end of the San Francisco Bay have been turned into a federally-regulated Wildlife Refuge. A new small visitor center at the Fremont headquarters on Marshlands Road provides information about and maps of the Refuge bayland trails and hilltop lookout. These marshlands are also home to Drawbridge, California, a long-abandoned ghost town along the railroad lines into the area, however current safety regulations imposed by the refuge prohibit entering the area.

This mission founded in 1797 by Fermin Lasuen as the 14th California mission. The original 1809 adobe church (which served as a saloon and general store during secularization) was destroyed by an 1868 earthquake along the Hayward fault. The current mission building underwent a four-year reconstruction project to produce a modern replica of the 1809 adobe church with 4'-5' steel-reinforced walls and was dedicated in 1985 for daily Mass and tours. The only surviving building from the Spanish period is a monastery, which serves as a small museum of seven rooms that houses a collection of artifacts, vestments, and memorabilia. The small cemetery holds the graves of many prominent Spanish and American settlers.

Shows Bollywood films produced on the other side of the globe, most with English subtitles. The concession offers good-quality snacks like pakoras and samosas.

Showcases silent films, many which were produced locally and are now shown with their original accuracy. Films are shown Friday and Saturday nights for a small fee, and fine homemade snacks are served. The theater also has an attached museum exhibiting the Niles district's deep roots in California's burgeoning film industry of the early to mid 1900s.

This 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 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.