The Carquinez Strait is a narrow tidal strait located in the Bay Area of Northern California, United States. It is part of the tidal estuary of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers as they drain into the San Francisco Bay. The strait is eight miles (13 km) long and connects Suisun Bay, which receives the waters of the combined rivers, with San Pablo Bay, a northern extension of the San Francisco Bay.
Looking east, the Carquinez Bridge in the foreground and the Benicia–Martinez Bridge in the background
Suisun Bay (bottom), Carquinez Strait (with bridges crossing it), and San Pablo Bay (upper center), with Point Reyes in the background
View of the Carquinez Strait with the Benicia-Martinez Bridge on the right
Annotated satellite image of the San Francisco Bay Area, featuring San Pablo Bay and the Carquinez Strait, 2004
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including the San Francisco Bay. The Association of Bay Area Governments defines the Bay Area as including the nine counties that border the estuaries of San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, and Suisun Bay: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma, and San Francisco. Other definitions may be either smaller or larger, and may include neighboring counties such as the Central Coast counties of Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Monterey, or the Central Valley counties of San Joaquin, Merced, and Stanislaus. The Bay Area is known for its natural beauty, progressive politics, prominent universities, technology companies, and affluence. The Bay Area contains many cities, towns, airports, and associated regional, state, and national parks, connected by a complex multimodal transportation network.
Image: Golden Gate Bridge at Purple sunset (cropped)
Image: Painted Ladies
Image: Autumn in Napa Valley vineyards (cropped)
Image: Chimney Rock Trail Point Reyes December 2016 panorama 1 (cropped 2)
