Discover 15 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Hayward (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Garin Regional Park, Kennedy Park, and Hayward Area Recreation and Park District. Also, be sure to include Japanese Gardens in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Hayward (California).
Table of Contents
Garin Regional Park
Regional park in Alameda County, California. Garin Regional Park is a regional park located in Hayward, California, that is part of the East Bay Regional Parks system. It shares a contiguous border with sister park Dry Creek Pioneer Regional Park. The park is the site of the former Garin Ranch, sold by Andrew J. Garin to the district in 1966.
"Ukraina Honcharenko", the former homestead of Ukrainian political émigré Agapius Honcharenko and a California Historical Landmark, is located in the park.
The park is situated behind the California State University, East Bay campus, and extends south, sharing a border with Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park. Summits in the park reach as high as 1,500 feet. Among the maintained trails, Garin Regional Park features several fenced off abandoned trails, some of which lead deep into the forest.
The park is used by the Hayward Area Athletic League as a high-school cross-country course. It is considered the home course of Moreau Catholic High School. Due to the hilly nature of the course race times are generally slower on this course than comparable distances elsewhere. The 2 and 3 mile trails that are used climb the hills at the front of the park. The entire San Francisco Bay can be viewed from the hills.
The park contains a small historic apple orchard with heirloom varieties. The park hosts the Garin Apple Festival in late Summer, with apples available for tasting.[1]
Kennedy Park
Museum in Hayward, California. Kennedy Park is a large, multi-use park in Hayward, California, managed by the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District. It is the most heavily used park in the district. The park is adjacent to McConaghy Park, which contains McConaghy House, a historic property, built in 1886, and managed as a house museum by HARD and the Hayward Area Historical Society. McConaghy House features Stick/Eastlake architecture. It lies within San Lorenzo. In 2013, plans to renovate the park and combine the park and house into a Victorian-style venue were proposed.[2]
Address: 19501 Hesperian Blvd, 94541 Hayward
Hayward Area Recreation and Park District
The Hayward Area Recreation and Park District is the park management agency for most of the parks in the city of Hayward, California. It was created in 1944 and is an independent special district under California law. H.A.R.D. is the largest recreation district in California. It also manages parks in the bordering unincorporated communities of Castro Valley, San Lorenzo, Fairview, Ashland and Cherryland. It manages the park grounds for numerous schools in the region. Events and classes are scheduled and listed in a quarterly brochure. The parks' 2021 budget is $24,306,495.[3]
Address: 1099 E St, Hayward (Hayward)
Japanese Gardens
Botanical garden in Hayward, California. The Hayward Japanese Gardens, located near downtown Hayward, are the oldest Japanese gardens in California designed along traditional lines. They are maintained by the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District.[4]
Address: 22373 N 3rd St, 94546-6969 Hayward (Castro Valley)
Hayward City Hall
Building in Hayward, California. Hayward City Hall is the third and current Hayward city hall building, located in downtown Hayward, California, United States, next to the Hayward BART Station. The city hall opened in January 1998, replacing the abandoned City Center Building, which served as Hayward's city hall for 29 years from 1969 to 1998. Hayward's first city hall, which is also closed to the public, is now in the Alex Giualini Plaza, three blocks away.[5]
Meek Park
Mansion. The Meek Mansion is a historic mansion in unincorporated Cherryland, California, just north of Hayward. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Located on nearly 10 acres, the Victorian house was built in 1869 by William Meek.[6]
Address: 240 Hampton Road, 94541 Hayward
Castro Valley
Census-designated place in California. Castro Valley is a census-designated place in Alameda County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, it is the fifth most populous unincorporated area in California and the twenty-third most populous in the United States. The population was 66,441 at the 2020 census.
Castro Valley is named after Don Guillermo Castro, a noted 19th-century Californio ranchero who owned the land where the community is located.[7]
Dry Creek Pioneer Regional Park
Regional park in Alameda County, California. Dry Creek Pioneer Regional Park is a regional park located in Union City, California, sharing a contiguous border with sister park Garin Regional Park. It is part of the East Bay Regional Parks system.[8]
Chapel of the Chimes
Cemetery. Chapel of the Chimes Memorial Park and Funeral Home is a 61-acre cemetery, mausoleum, crematorium, columbarium and funeral home complex in Hayward, California. The site was first established as a seven-acre cemetery in 1872. One of the memorial park's three mausoleums is circular in design, the only such one in California. The park hosts one of the larger Memorial Day services in the San Francisco Bay Area. A replica of the Angel of Grief statue is located there. The former Masonic Cemetery and Decoto Cemetery are now encompassed within its bounds. The park's owners, NorthStar Memorial Group, also operate the Chapel of the Chimes columbarium in Oakland, California, Skylawn Memorial Park in San Mateo, and Sunset Lawn Chapel of the Chimes in Sacramento.[9]
Address: 32992 Mission Boulevard, 94544 Hayward
Lone Tree Cemetery
Cemetery in Fairview, California. Lone Tree Cemetery is a 42-acre, active, nonprofit cemetery, mausoleum and columbarium complex in unincorporated Fairview, California, adjacent to the city of Hayward. The site was first established in 1868. The cemetery has hosted, since 1903, the oldest continuous Memorial Day celebration in southern Alameda County. It contains a memorial to 73 soldiers from Hayward, Castro Valley and San Lorenzo who died in the Vietnam War, and a memorial to Alameda County Sheriff's Deputies and police officers from cities in the county.[10]
Address: 24591 Fairview Ave, 94542-1329 Hayward
Sulphur Creek Nature Center
Park, Relax in park, Nature and wildlife
Address: 1801 D St, 94541-4434 Hayward
Dumbarton Rail Bridge
Bridge. The Dumbarton Rail Bridge lies just to the south of the Dumbarton road bridge. Built in 1910, the rail bridge was the first structure to span San Francisco Bay, shortening the rail route between Oakland and San Francisco by 26 miles. The last freight train traveled over the bridge in 1982, and it has been proposed since 1991 to reactivate passenger train service to relieve traffic on the road bridges, though this would entail a complete replacement of the existing bridge. Part of the western timber trestle approach collapsed in a suspected arson fire in 1998.[11]
Hayward Area Historical Society
Hayward Area Historical Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to documenting the history of the city of Hayward, California and adjacent communities. These areas include San Lorenzo, Ashland, Cherryland, Castro Valley, Fairview, the former communities of Russell City, Mount Eden, Schafer Park, and other parts of unincorporated Alameda County. The society was founded in 1956. Their museum in Downtown Hayward closed in 2012. Their new facility opened nearby in 2014.[12]
Address: 22380 Foothill Blvd, 94541-2710 Hayward (Hayward)
Downtown Hayward
Downtown Hayward is the original and current central business district of Hayward, California, United States, and is home to the current Hayward City Hall, along with the two previous city halls, Alex Giualini Plaza and the City Center Building. The Hayward Fault runs through the area, and is the cause of the two previous city halls being taken out of use.
The boundaries are Third Street to the east, Grand Street and Hayward BART to the west, Jackson Street and E Street to the south, and City Center Drive/Hazel Avenue to the north. Foothill Boulevard was known as "The Golden Strip", a retail business corridor that was built in the 1950s, and housed Capwell's and I. Magnin department stores. The street lost businesses after the opening of Southland Mall in 1964. Parks include Newman Park and The Julio Bras Portuguese Park. San Lorenzo Creek runs through downtown. The Hayward Public Library is located there. "Hayward City Center" a mall and building complex located at the northern end of downtown, contains the City Center Building, which served as the city's second city hall from 1969 to 1991, and is now an abandoned 11 story building, Hayward's tallest building, formerly the second tallest prior to California State University, East Bay's Warren Hall demolition in 2013. The City Center complex previously contained the now demolished Centennial Hall Convention Center. The bankrupt Mervyns department store chain's large former headquarters is across the street from the City Center mall. The Hayward Area Historical Society operates a museum downtown, which relocated and re-opened June 2014. The FBI operates a resident agency in downtown Hayward. The Hayward Art Council, founded in 1975, operates the Sun Gallery downtown. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows building on B Street is one of Hayward's oldest buildings, and was built in 1868. The Hayward 9/11 Memorial was dedicated May 30, 2016, to the first responders who died in 9/11, and to the city's own fallen first responders, and the city's fallen soldiers.[13]
Address: 1061 B St, Hayward (Hayward)
City Center Building
Building in Hayward, California. The City Center Building, known briefly as Centennial Tower, was the tallest building in Hayward, California. It was previously the second tallest, until the 2013 razing of Warren Hall on the Cal State East Bay campus. It was for many years an abandoned building, located between Foothill Boulevard and City Center Drive, in the City Center section of Downtown Hayward, adjacent to the PlazaCenter mall. It was formerly used as Hayward City Hall.
Demolition of the building began in January 2020 and was completed by September 2020.[14]