How a former landfill became one of the most popular hiking spots in the East Bay
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People view Mad Marc's Castle on the Albany Bulb on Dec. 2, 2020. The Bulb is a former construction debris landfill peninsula that sticks out into San Francisco Bay in Albany, Calif.Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
It’s a mild, softly glowing December morning in Albany, and I’m at the most beautiful landfill in the world. Well, a former landfill: Albany Bulb, a 33-acre bulb-shaped strip of land protruding into the San Francisco Bay.
Offering both sweeping views of the San Francisco skyline and human-made sculptures crafted from found materials, these days, the Bulb evokes more of a sense of whimsy than it does the desolation of a landfill. Wet dogs pitter-patter gleefully down dirt trails, and children exclaim with wonder as they discover life-size dinosaurs made of driftwood and rebar. On pandemic-era weekends, the parking lot is packed — there’s really no better place in the East Bay to get a safe whiff of fresh air while entertaining your bored children during lockdown.