Alviso Marina County Park

Alviso Marina County Park is a bayside park on Alviso Slough, surrounded by salt ponds and marshes, and the gateway to the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Its boat launch is one of the few clear routes through the salt marshes in the San José area. From the concrete ramps and two floating docks, motorized and non-motorized boats can follow the slough out to the open bay, and the site is part of the San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail network. Launching is free during park hours; anglers and hunters who need the ramp after hours can buy an annual gate key.

Hiking, biking, and birdwatching are popular in both the county park and the refuge, and the county park's paths are good for a picnic and a walk. Bikes may use all paths and trails but must be walked on the boardwalks. Dogs may use the county park's paths and picnic areas but not the trails, levees, or boardwalks, and dogs, drones, and walking near the pond edges are prohibited. Pond A12, known for its pink color, shelters migratory and resident birds, including threatened and endangered species such as the Western Snowy Plover.

Park staff lead free educational boat rides through Alviso Slough that show how the South Bay shoreline has changed. Agents of Discovery, a free mobile game in English and Spanish, turns a 30- to 45-minute walk on the paved paths into a lesson about local wildlife. The park is open from 8 a.m. to sunset, trails open at sunrise, and there is no entry fee.