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Northern Peninsula

From the San Francisco County Line to Highway 92

Lower Crystal Springs Lake seen from Sawyer Camp Trail

San Bruno Mountain State and County Park

San Bruno Mountain rises starkly from the Bay to an elevation of 1314 feet, dominating the northern Peninsula landscape, its bare, steep flanks creased by narrow ravines and a few wooded canyons. The cities of San Francisco, Brisbane, South San Francisco, Colma, and Daly City surround the mountain.

From the top of this seemingly barren mountain rising above the cities encircling it, you see the other Bay Area landmark mountains, the Pacific Ocean, San Francisco’s skyscrapers, and the ships on its great Bay.

In 1978 the mountain became San Bruno Mountain Park with the purchase by the State of California and San Mateo County of 1500 acres and the gift of 500 acres by the property owner. Later additions brought the park’s total to 2266 acres, which are managed by San Mateo County.

Guadalupe Canyon Parkway, running generally east-west across the park, leads to the park entrance. North of the parkway is a relatively level area known as the Saddle, where visitors find beautiful views and attractive picnic areas screened by Monterey cypress and sheltering low walls. A day camp nestles in the center of the Saddle and trails loop around the perimeter.

South of the parkway, trails ascend the mountain’s steep sides and a road to the summit leads to trails along its high ridges. Superb views from this mountaintop make it a fine place to take visitors for an orientation to the Bay Area, all laid out before you.

More than 11 miles of trails take the visitor over the mountain’s varied terrain: short, easy nature trails accessible for the physically limited, moderate loop hikes, and longer trips up the mountain. Although the ridges of the mountain are exposed to the prevailing winds and fog from the ocean, and buffeted by the storms of winter, the ravines in the lee of the main ridgeline are often sunny and relatively warm. After winter rains clear, the superb 360° views are worth a trip to the mountain with windbreaker, binoculars, and camera. Even in blustery weather, the hiking is good if you are prepared with proper clothing.

Considered an outlier of the Santa Cruz Mountains, San Bruno Mountain geologically is an elevated fault block composed largely of a dark gray Franciscan rock with the catchy name of graywacke (three syllables). You can see jumbled outcroppings of this rock above Guadalupe Canyon Parkway as you come up the canyon from the west.

History

Some evidence of Indian habitation has been found in Buckeye Canyon and shell mounds are known along the edge of the Bay below. A few years after the Portolá expedition discovered San Francisco Bay in 1769, Captain Fernando Rivera, the principal officer of Father Francisco Palou’s exploring party, climbed the mountain with four of his men to watch the sunrise. Humans have since greatly altered the land they saw around them, but the mountain itself remains very little changed. It is believed that the mountain was named for the patron saint of Captain Bruno Heceta, who commanded an inland party mapping the Bay and the surrounding lands.

From Spanish times the mountain was considered good pasture, and from those times until World War II cattle grazed these grassy slopes. During these war years the army set up a small camp in today’s Saddle area where they used searchlights for anti-aircraft maneuvers. The buildings are gone but some traces of its former use remain.

In one of the early grants of the Mexican regime, in 1836 Governor Luis Arguello bestowed on Jacob Lesse, a naturalized Mexican citizen, the Rancho Cañada de Guadalupe, Concepción y Rodeo Viejo. The ranch took in the whole mountain, Visitacion Valley and the old rodeo grounds near the Bay. Over the years the ranch changed hands many times as it was traded, sold and divided, until 1872 when the Visitation Land Company secured the largest holding. In 1884 H. W. Crocker acquired the company’s 3814 acres. This large holding remained for nearly a century in the Crocker Estate, until the establishment of the park.

However, in 1964 a huge development scheme had proposed slicing off the top of the mountain to fill the Bay from Hunters Point to Coyote Point, after which houses would cover the mountaintop and the Bay fill. Fortunately, the scheme did not come to fruition, although a later development plan did gain approval for some housing. The Saddle area was saved along with all the land south of the parkway up to the summit and on its southern slopes.

The Mountain’s Special Flora

The mountain, so dun-colored from a distance after its grasses dry up, is at close view colorful and lively with a great variety of plants, lichen-covered rocks, and fern-lined canyons. In spite of over a century of grazing, San Bruno Mountain is a botanical island with vegetation typical of that which once covered the San Francisco hills. A great number of native species of plants grow on the mountain— 384 have been counted, including some rare and endangered species and a few unique to this special environment. E.O. Wilson wrote in the Diversity of Life that San Bruno Mountain is one of the world’s best examples of biodiversity.

Nearly 50 varieties of grasses grow here, half of them native, including many of California’s perennial bunchgrasses. In the grasslands from February on, you can see impressive displays of wildflowers—sheets of pearly everlasting, colonies of goldfields, clumps of Johnny jump-up, slopes covered with Douglas and coast irises, and steep hillsides of brilliant, showy, scarlet, orange, and yellow Indian paintbrushes. The mountain’s most extensive and varied displays of annual flowers are found on some 150 acres of the April Brook slopes known as the Flower Garden.

Four rare butterflies, among them the endangered Mission blue, the San Francisco silverspot, and the San Bruno elfin, live and feed on the plants of San Bruno Mountain.

Habitat Conservation Plan

Long years of concern over potential effects of construction on the mountain’s flora and its rare and endangered species led to a landmark decision in 1982. Known as the Habitat Conservation Plan, it granted developers a 30-year permit to build on some of the endangered species’ habitat in return for their funding programs to enhance the species’ chances of survival on the park lands.

San Bruno Mountain, open space surrounded by urban development

This plan sets up an annual fund, the San Bruno Mountain Habitat Conservation Trust Fund, which will be used to eliminate invasive gorse and eucalyptus and to seed host plants, such as lupine and violas, for food and refuge for the endangered species of butterfly.

Gorse elimination projects are ongoing; 1995 saw the beginning of eucalyptus removal. Time will tell how well these fragile native species can survive in limited space and in close contact with urban development. In the meantime, building moves right up to the boundaries of the park.

Jurisdiction: State of California and San Mateo County: 650-363-4020

Facilities: Trails for hikers, one for bicyclists and another for physically limited; picnic areas; barbecues; meadow play area; restrooms; day camp

Rules: Open 8 A.M to sunset; no dogs allowed in park; bicycles allowed on Old Guadalupe Trail and Saddle Loop Trail only

Maps: San Mateo County San Bruno Mountain Park and USGS topo San Francisco South

How to Get There: From I-280: (1) Southbound—Take Eastmoor Ave. exit and turn left on Sullivan Ave., which parallels freeway. At first street on left, turn left onto San Pedro Rd., which goes over freeway. Across Mission St, San Pedro Rd. becomes East Market St, which becomes Guadalupe Canyon Pkwy. Park entrance is on north side of parkway. (2) Northbound—Take Mission St exit. At first stop signal, turn left onto Junipero Serra Blvd., then right on San Pedro Rd. and follow directions above. From Hwy 101: Take Bayshore Blvd., turn west on Guadalupe Canyon Pkwy and go 1.5 miles to park entrance on right.

SADDLE LOOP TRAIL

Circling the northern Saddle area of the park, this is an invigorating hike when fresh breezes sweep in from the Pacific. Views stretch beyond San Francisco to its dramatic setting of Bay and mountains.

Distance: 2.9-mile loop

Time: ½ hour

Elevation Gain: 150’

Marked off in 0.5-mile segments, this loop is a longtime favorite of joggers. Now open to bicyclists too, it is becoming an even more popular trail. Starting on the Old Guadalupe Trail on the west side of the north parking area, follow this former ranch road lined with eucalyptus and Monterey cypress. It traverses the side of a ravine, where moisture-loving plants grow by the path. On foggy days the aroma of eucalyptus leaves is intensified when they are crushed underfoot.

In 0.8 mile veer right past new subdivisions crowding the park boundary, to climb into open grasslands where you have long views out to the Pacific Ocean and Point Reyes. If the day is very clear, the Farallon Islands seem closer than their 31-mile distance.

The trail arcs right, staying close to the boundary of the park, with flowers brightening the way at most any season. Particularly brilliant in spring with goldfields, lupines, and some rare species, this path even in summer is dotted with magenta farewell-to-spring and white yarrow.

Downtown San Francisco high-rises puncture the skyline, and the Bay Bridge stretches across to Oakland. As your trail continues to its highest point, the view spreads toward the South Bay shoreline. From about the halfway point of this loop, a service road cuts straight back to the park entrance, passing the pleasant Edward J. Bacciocco, Jr. Day Camp area en route. As you continue around the Saddle Loop, the view changes to take in the full height and breadth of San Bruno Mountain. It beckons the hiker to cross the parkway and climb its trails to even wider views of the entire Bay Area.

Old Monterey cypress trees frame the Saddle Picnic Area

Heading back to the parking area, you pass the gorse elimination projects. European gorse has taken over large areas of this saddle, threatening to wipe out the host plants for the rare and endangered butterflies. Because gorse seeds can live up to 25 years, gorse is very difficult to eradicate.

In small ravines coastal scrub harbors many bird species. You may recognize the quail’s warning call and see wren-tits and song sparrows flitting from shrub to shrub. These birds and the rare plants and butterflies of the mountain are now protected through the establishment of San Bruno Mountain Park.

BOG TRAIL

A short nature trail aligned on a gentle grade and having a stable surface skirts a little swale west of the park entrance. A bridge over an intermittent stream leads from it to the Old Guadalupe Trail. This 0.4-mile trail, accessible to the physically limited, offers an opportunity for all nature lovers to enjoy the riparian environment.

The Bog Trail, together with a section of the Old Guadalupe Trail (the first leg of the Saddle Loop Trip), makes a loop of less than a mile. Try this before sitting down to lunch at one of the picnic sites just beyond the old cypress trees at the park entrance.

EUCALYPTUS LOOP TRAIL

A relatively easy trail samples the lower slopes of the mountain with views up to its long ridgetop.

Distance: 1.08-mile loop

Time: ½ hour

Elevation Change: 170’ gain

This trip is just right for a brisk walk before lunch. Before you set off, pause to learn about the natural wonders of the mountain from the exhibits on the display board by the trailhead at the south-side parking area. Here too, you can see the botanical garden, funded by the Habitat Conservation Trust Fund and planted and maintained by the volunteer group, Friends of San Bruno Mountain. At present three of the five plant communities found on San Bruno Mountain are represented—grassland, coastal dune scrub, and wetland. The remaining two will be added later.

Then take the left hand trail to begin this loop trip. When past the eucalyptus removal area and the botanical garden, you see the deeply furrowed sides of the mountain, dark green against the sky. Water rushes down the mountain in winter, carving still deeper furrows in the mountain’s side. After a few bends in the trail, turn right at the first junction. Your way straightens out above the former eucalyptus grove to cross Dairy Ravine. High above, the long spine of the park extends for more than 2 miles southeast. Up close, the mountain has a magnificent profusion of poppies and goldfields glowing golden in spring and early summer.

A right turn at the next junction takes you into the trees and thence back to the trailhead. For lunch you can take the footpath through the underpass to the north-side picnic area by the old Monterey cypresses that mark the north entrance to the park.

DAIRY RAVINE LOOP

Climbing higher on the mountain, this trip zigzags up and down the sides of Dairy Ravine past trailside gardens of remarkable beauty.

Distance: 1.75-mile loop

Time: 1 hour

Elevation Change: 325’ gain

In return for the extra elevation gain and extra mileage, this loop offers the delights of coming upon a different rock garden at every turn. Lichen-covered rocks shelter gray-green sedums, their tall flower stalks bearing coral and yellow blossoms.

Starting from the trailhead on the south side of Guadalupe Canyon Parkway, take the left branch of the Eucalyptus Loop Trail (see Saddle Loop Trail) and at the first junction bear left onto the Dairy Ravine Trail. This 0.5-mile-long trail climbs the east side of Dairy Ravine in wide switchbacks to meet the Summit Loop Trail at the head of Dairy Ravine. When you meet the Summit Loop Trail, veer right on it, and see the San Francisco skyline looming in the distance. Below are the old cypress trees in Dairy Ravine. The name and these trees are all that remain of the dairy farm that once operated at the foot of the ravine.

The trail crosses over and makes a switchback above the steep east side of Cable Ravine, then descends quickly through waist-high cream bush, coffee berry, and snowberry to meet the Eucalyptus Loop Trail. Here you take a left turn to return to the south-side parking area.

SUMMIT LOOP TRAIL

This mountaintop climb takes you past the Flower Garden of April Brook Ravine, along the west ridge for its views, and down the steep north face below the summit.

Distance: 3.1-mile loop

Time: 2 hours

Elevation Change: 725’ gain

Although you can complete this trip in less than two hours, you may want to linger longer in spring to enjoy the views and the flowers at every step of the way. From the trailhead on the south side of Guadalupe Canyon Parkway, take the path to the right through the eucalyptus grove.

After crossing the road, you soon come out into dense, waist-high growth—tall cow parsnip with its flat clusters of white blossoms, pink-flowered honeysuckle, and California bee plant with its small, dull red flowers. Along the way you come across the many wet places in the trail where even in summer water is seeping from springs above.

You are soon at the ravine where April Brook flows into willow-bordered Colma Creek. It’s a protected little swale that catches the noontime sun. The brook is heavily lined with sword ferns and big clumps of coastal iris edge the trail. In winter, you can distinguish the coastal iris from the Douglas iris, also found on the mountain, by the former’s straplike leaves that are green on both sides; in contrast, Douglas iris leaves are shiny green on top and dull-grayish green below. Come back in April and May to see the long-petaled flowers in shades of blue.

But even in winter you can see the promise of spring in the emerging foliage of California poppies, lupines, and other annual flowers. Stone outcrops by the trail form rock gardens of such satisfying design as to serve as models for our domestic landscaping efforts. Needlepoint-textured, orange and gray lichen cover the rocks; pink-hued succulents, small polypody ferns, and thick-leaved daisies fill the crevices.

The trail crosses April Brook Ravine and ascends via switchbacks to Bitter Cherry Ridge, where the skyscrapers of San Francisco and the blocks of Daly City homes come into view. East of April Brook in the sloping meadow below Radio Road is the Flower Garden, a carpet of color from early March through May.

At the very top of the ridge the trail joins a paved road, which you cross and look for the continuation of the trail on the south side. Keep to the narrow trail going uphill and avoid an old jeep road that contours around to a lower destination. Southwest and far below are the cemeteries of Colma, with lawns, lakes, and headstones.

The first stretch of the trip on the south side goes through a brilliant summer garden of knee-high golden yarrow, contrasted with purple pennyroyal, crimson pitcher sage, white yarrow, and pink owl’s clover. If you look back over this sea of blooms, you will see up the coast all the way to Point Reyes. A few steps farther around the east side of the hill, low, pink-edged succulents and gray-leaved, lemon-yellow-blossomed Indian paintbrush encrust the stony stairs. Below the next bend in the trail the saucer of a telephone relay rises like a giant white bloom from this stony garden.

A switchback in the trail takes you up to Radio Road, where above you rises a spindly forest of antennas springing from the commercial communications installations in an enclave of private property. Cross the road and start north down the mountain in wide switchbacks with ever-changing vistas and a succession of trail-side gardens as varied as the views. Just 400 feet down the Summit Loop Trail you pass the Ridge Trail going east. You could turn here and walk out to the East Ridge and back, thus extending your trip by 5 miles.

Continuing down the Summit Loop Trail, you pass a rocky promontory where rare varieties of huckleberry and manzanita form ground-hugging mats. This species of manzanita, found only on San Bruno Mountain, is now sold in nurseries as a drought-resistant ground cover. From the promontory you can see down the flank of the mountain to the Bay. After a hairpin turn you look east to Blue Blossom Hill, mantled with deep-blue wild lilac blossoms in early spring.

At the next trail junction you can choose the east or the west ridge above Dairy Ravine. Both have fine views and remarkable flower displays long after the spectacular spring show. To stay on the Summit Loop Trail bear left (west). On this long traverse you pass a series of little gardens in a sheltered spot. Low-growing pink daisies are blooming along with blue brodiaeas, accented with crimson sage, and a patch of pennyroyal is splashed with some scarlet paintbrush. Here and there are clumps of iris edged with monkey flower.

At the next trail junction, veer left and follow the Eucalyptus Loop Trail around a big bend down to the parking area.

RIDGE TRAIL TO EAST PEAK VISTA

An invigorating hike goes out to East Ridge for commanding views of the Bay Area and far out over the Pacific Ocean.

Distance: 8 miles round trip from lower, south-side trailhead

Time: 4½ hours from lower trailhead

Elevation Change: 725’ gain from lower trailhead

The summit parking area is now closed to cars, but hikers who want to do this challenging 8-mile hike start at the lower, south-side parking area and take the Summit Loop Trail up to the Ridge Trail, which is on the northeast side of the summit. Then follow the Ridge Trail, contouring east below the mountaintop, to join the trail to the East Ridge. This trip calls for windbreakers against the usual mountaintop winds and sturdy shoes for the often rocky Ridge Trail.

Only 0.25 mile out on the trail you can begin to take in the wonderful panorama. You stand with the San Francisco skyline in view in one direction, the Bay in front of you, and over your shoulder the blue Pacific Ocean. Right at your feet is the mountain, its grassy slopes flowering in early spring. You can see down into the steep ravines, the first to the southwest, Sage Ravine, grayed with artemisia. The northeast slopes tend to be brush-covered or wooded. Past the quarry, rock outcroppings, tall chaparral, and trees cover Buckeye Ravine.

On either side hawks ride the updrafts. You may see one make its swift glide for a ground squirrel in the grass below. If it has a wing spread of 4 feet or more and a tail that shows reddish orange against the sky, it is a red-tailed hawk, the most common kind on the mountain.

By late February wildflowers begin to bloom through the grass, earlier here than elsewhere on the Peninsula. Clumps of California poppies and ground-hugging Johnny jump-ups color the ridgetop. Creamy yellow wallflowers blow in the breeze on ten-inch stems, and blossoms of white milkmaids are sprinkled down the shadier northeast slopes.

Graywacke rocks and wildflowers crowd San Bruno Mountain trails

When you reach the transmission towers, note that the ridge falls off rapidly just beyond. This makes for a very steep climb back. As you return to the summit, the ocean is before you; on a clear day you can see Point Reyes on the northwest horizon.

A TRAIL TO NEARBY OFFICES

The Old Ranch Road Trail leaves the south side parking area and meanders downhill through the trees and shrubs beside the parkway to a crossing to the Carter Street business park complex. Those who work there can enjoy a lunchtime walk to the park on this trail.

Milagra Ridge

Several years after World War II, the Army closed this hilltop site, a former Nike installation. They temporarily placed it under the wing of the San Mateo County Parks. When the Golden Gate National Recreation Area took over the land, they began a concerted drive to remove invasive plants, particularly the fields of pampas grass. While removing the exotic plants, they protected the native species, particularly the lupine that is the host plant for the Mission Blue Butterfly, an endangered species.

Today new lupines and native grasses are thriving, the piles of rubbish are gone, eroded hillsides are filled and protected with straw and a new trail reaches two view sites overlooking the Pacific. This trail is a segment of the Bay Area Ridge Trail that extends south through Skyline College to GGNRA’s Sweeney Ridge.

Jurisdiction: Golden Gate National Recreation Area

Rules: Trails for hikers only; open 8 A.M. to dusk; bicycles on roads; dogs on leash

LOOP TRAIL TO THE NIKE SITE

Try this on a clear day when you can see for miles north, south, and seaward.

Distance: 1.5 mile

Time: ¾ hour

Elevation Change: 690’ gain

After going around the preserve gate at the end of College Drive North, bear left on the trail that climbs a few steps and then meanders northwest. This trail for hikers only is about 6 feet wide, demarcated by ropes strung between sturdy wooden posts, and laid out on a comfortable grade. It passes a reservoir, goes up and down the low hills beside bush lupines, native grasses, and low-growing shrubs, punctuated by wildflowers in season. In early spring the authors saw the blue blossoms of silver-leaved lupine just emerging.

After the reservoir there is a wide meadow, from which you can get your first glimpse of the sparkling sea (on a day without fog). You can watch the breakers crashing against the rocks at Mori Point and scan the horizon from Pedro Point to the Marin Headlands. On very clear days you can see the Farallons.

Continuing on the trail northwest, you come to a gravel road, which you take for a short distance to the left, then climb the steps on your right to reach a fenced platform. Here was a battery of six-inch guns set on a retractable mount. Today you can admire the peaceful view out over the surrounding GGNRA lands—Mori Point, Sweeney Ridge, and north to Fort Funston and the San Francisco shoreline.

From this platform you can descend a different set of stairs and follow the preserve road beside the sloping grasslands to the east. Pass a trail junction on your right and in less than a mile, you are back at the preserve gate.

This trail is marked as a segment of the Bay Area Ridge Trail.

Sweeney Ridge

The Sweeney Ridge addition to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area takes in the high ridge just north of Montara Mountain. Its grassy hilltop commands sweeping views of ocean and Bay. From this site Gaspar de Portolá’s scouts first saw the expanse of water now known as San Francisco Bay.

In 1980 the Golden Gate National Recreation Area expanded its jurisdiction south from Marin County and San Francisco to include more than 27,000 acres of land within San Mateo County. Much of this land was already in public ownership, though not some thousand acres along Sweeney Ridge. The GGNRA purchased this land in 1982 to “preserve the natural, cultural and recreation values of the ridge.” Included in this acquisition was the Portolá Discovery Site, already owned by the city of Pacifica and San Mateo County. In 1987 the GGNRA assumed jurisdiction of San Mateo County’s adjacent Sweeney Ridge Skyline Preserve and Milagra Ridge Preserve less than a mile north.

In addition to their place in history as the spot from which Europeans first saw San Francisco, these wind-swept, foggy heights were grazing lands for Spanish ranches. By 1875 the enterprising Richard Sneath, for whom the lane is named, acquired these lands, ideal for dairy farming. He operated his dairy here until well into the 1920s. His barns were on Sneath Lane at El Camino Real.

From the rounded ridgetop, steep slopes and narrow, brush-filled canyons descend. At the northwest end of the preserve Mori Ridge reaches beyond Highway 1 to Mori Point, also in the GGNRA. Sweeney Ridge’s hogback is flanked east and south by San Francisco Watershed lands; west is the city of Pacifica. Only a few thousand feet west from the southern boundary of the preserve is San Pedro Valley County Park.

Described here are three trips, one from each of the present access routes to the preserve. The quickest and most direct for those living on the Bayside is the approach from Skyline Boulevard on Sneath Lane. From the north there is a direct route from Skyline College to the ridgetop. The third trail leaves Highway 1 in Pacifica just north of Vallemar and climbs Mori Ridge to join the Sweeney Ridge Trail. The County’s Trail Plan calls for a new trail to reach the ridge from the existing San Andreas Trail north of San Andreas Lake.

Sweeney Ridge is a key segment of the San Francisco Bay Area Ridge Trail, which extends from the Portola Gate on the southern Sweeney Ridge boundary with the San Francisco Watershed north through the Skyline College campus and on through Milagra Ridge. As of 2004 the Bay Area Ridge Trail route through the San Francisco Watershed connects to Sweeney Ridge from the south at Highway 92, subject to reservations on docent-led trips, see website: http://sfwater.org.

Jurisdiction: Golden Gate National Recreation Area: 415-561-4700, 415556-8642, 415-239-2366

Facilities: Trails for hikers, equestrians, and bicyclists; portable toilet near old Nike site

Maps: See map; GGNRA Sweeney Ridge, USGS topo Montara Mountain

Rules: Open from 8 A.M. to dusk; dogs on leash only; bicyclists on Sneath Lane, Mori Ridge Trail, and trail to Portola Gate only; equestrians use trail from Pacifica to Portola Gate and Mori Ridge Trail junction only

How to Get There: There are 5 access points: (1) Sneath Lane trailhead—From Skyline Blvd. (Hwy 35) in San Bruno go 2 miles west on Sneath Lane to off-street parking at gate; (2) Mori Ridge trailhead—Going north on Hwy 1 in Pacifica, pass Reina del Mar Ave., turn abruptly right into Shell Dance Nursery and continue past nursery buildings to parking at end of dirt road; going south on Hwy 1 in Pacifica, make a U-turn at Reina del Mar Ave. and go north, following directions above; (3) Skyline College—From Skyline Blvd. in San Bruno go west on College Dr., turn left at college entrance and proceed to parking lot 2 (several spaces reserved for GGNRA trail use); (4) South entrance, Bay Area Ridge Trail from Highway 92 to Portola Gate—(5) Milagra Ridge—From Hwy 1 or from Skyline Blvd., take Sharp Park Rd., turn north on College Dr. Extension N. and continue to roadside parking at Milagra Ridge gate. SamTrans buses reach Skyline College from Pacifica, Daly City BART, and Serramonte-Tanforan.

San Bruno Mountain seen from Nike site, Sweeney Ridge

FROM SNEATH LANE TO THE DISCOVERY SITE

A bracing hike with superb views to an historic site and the trail’s southern terminus.

Distance: 1.8 miles one way from Sneath Lane parking area to Discovery Site, and a 2.4-mile loop from Discovery Site to south end of preserve and back, altogether a 6-mile round trip

Time: 3¼ hours round trip

Elevation Change: 700’ gain

From the Sneath Lane trailhead, access point (1), enter through the stile to the paved service road through the San Francisco Watershed lands and descend by a willow-bordered watercourse that flows into San Andreas Lake. (Close by is the proposed junction with the San Andreas Trail extension.) The road soon starts its rise in and out of ravines that furrow the eastern slopes. From the outer bends of the road you catch glimpses of San Andreas Lake below. The grade is easy and the only traffic is an occasional official vehicle or a few bicycles.

Partway up you will see a yellow stripe in the center of the pavement, making a “fog line” to guide cars and bicycles when dense fog blankets the hills. A word of caution about the ridge on foggy days: a walk in the fog is a bracing experience, but stay on roads or well-defined trails. When visibility is close to zero, hikers can become disoriented and find themselves lost on these moors.

Where the service road reaches the ridgetop, you are in the GGNRA. Turn left for the Discovery Site, which is marked by a dark granite cylinder. Carved around it are the outlines of the landmarks in the sweeping views around you, such as Mt. Tamalpais, San Bruno Mountain, Mt. Diablo, and Montara Mountain.

Marble monument depicts Bay Area mountains

From this point on the ridge Gaspar de Portolá’s scouts saw “a great estuary … extending many leagues inland.” They were in search of Monterey Bay, however, and felt misgivings that that bay and the ship they wished to rejoin might lie behind them. It was only several years later, and after subsequent expeditions, that the Spaniards recognized the importance of San Francisco Bay and its magnificent harbor.

From the Discovery Site the Sweeney Ridge Trail heads south toward the boundary of the preserve. For more than a mile you go over grasslands, past rock outcroppings, and through patches of coastal scrub. In spring this is a flowery way, with carpets of goldfields, patches of blue lupine, and great clumps of blue coastal iris. On fine days you can see forever. The dark outline of Montara Mountain is before you, and on either side the views open up over the ocean and the Bay. As you go along, listen for the sharp cries of a kestrel, a small hawk with white undersides that searches the meadows for field mice and gophers.

Toward the south end of the preserve are a spring-fed marsh and a small reed-rimmed pond. The trail splits at the marsh; your route goes left of it. Follow this trail to the San Francisco Watershed’s Portola Gate in the southeast corner of the preserve. You pass through a thicket of coastal scrub enlivened by apricot-colored monkey flowers, white heads of pearly everlastings, and here and there clumps of bright red and yellow Indian paintbrush. The trail going right at the marsh is an equestrian trail that takes off steeply downhill to stables at the end of Linda Mar Valley.

At the Watershed gate, your route turns north back to the Discovery Site where the Baquiano Trail, named for Portolá’s scout, heads left (southwest). This trail goes down a ridge to end a mile below at a gate to private property beyond the preserve boundary. GGNRA rangers occasionally lead walks up into the preserve from Pacifica.

As of 2004 you can sign up for docent-led hikes, horse rides, and bike rides from Highway 92 to the Portola Gate and on to Sneath Lane or Skyline College. To sign up for one of these hikes, see the San Francisco Watershed’s website: http://sfwater.org. The 9.5-mile trip through the Watershed to the Portola Gate and 3.5 miles to Sneath Lane parking requires a shuttle for hikers; bicyclists and equestrians probably can do a round trip.

UP MORI RIDGE TO THE DISCOVERY SITE

This trail heads straight up the steep grassy slope of Mori Ridge with superb views of the coast along the way.

Distance: 5 miles round trip

Time: 3 hours

Elevation Change: 1000’ gain

From the Mori Ridge trailhead, access point (2), go to the preserve entrance gate where a service-road trail begins a steep, steady ascent up a grassy slope. Views open out over the Pacific Ocean and north to the Farallons, Point Reyes, and Mt. Tamalpais. In the foreground is an extension of this ridge, GGNRA’s Mori Point, surrounded by the suburban community of Pacifica. To the south are the austere outlines of Pedro Point that give way to the high ridge headlands that take its name.

In spring the grasslands are bright with flowers. You will be glad to stop the stiff climb now and then to look at them more closely. A half-hour’s hike brings you to scattered old plantings of Monterey pines. One by the trailside provides a welcome shady stop on a bright day. Often, however, this exposed ridge is swept by winds and fog.

Soon you are on a gentler slope where grasses give way to low bushes. On Sweeney Ridge is one of the best examples of the lively combination of low shrubs and flowers called coastal scrub. In spring and summer this scrub takes on a brilliance that belies the harsh, negative connotation of its name. It blooms then with white pearly everlastings; patches of blue coast iris; Indian paintbrush in red and yellow; daisies in yellow, lavender, and white; yellow yarrow; coffeeberry; grease-wood; and blue wild lilac. The ever-present poison oak is bright red by the end of summer.

After 1.3 miles, you reach the Sweeney Ridge Trail, the Bay Area Ridge Trail route. Here the ridge flattens out and San Francisco comes into view, including the antenna on Sutro Heights and the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge. East are San Bruno Mountain and beyond, the East Bay Hills. At this intersection you bear right (southeast) on the Sweeney Ridge Trail (left goes north to Skyline College; open to hikers only). After 0.8 mile you skirt an old Nike site with blocky cement buildings and battered fences. This trail, surfaced and fairly level, is the upper end of Sneath Lane, and continues for 0.5 mile to the Discovery Site (described above).

SWEENEY RIDGE TRAIL FROM SKYLINE COLLEGE TO THE DISCOVERY SITE

A short ascent to a protected ridgetop with wide views leads to stairs into and out of a steep ravine and a final gentle climb past the Nike site to Portolá’s Discovery Site.

Distance: 0.6 mile round trip to knoll; 4.6 miles round trip to Discovery Site

Time: 2½ hours

Elevation Change: 500’ gain, plus gain of 300’ out of the ravine

On a clear day the view is unlimited—all around the compass. However, this bald hilltop can get the full force of the wind from the ocean, so be prepared. On the other hand, if the day is clear and warm, take a lunch up to this hilltop, where you can look down at the coast from Mussel Rock to San Pedro Point. Pacifica is below you, and the green of Sharp Park Golf Course contrasts with the deep blue of the ocean. White breakers curl into the sandy curves of the beaches.

But, if the Discovery Site is your destination, continue into and out of the ravine ahead on a trail with stairs for hikers only and take the Sweeney Ridge Trail to the Discovery Site.

San Pedro Valley County Park

The park’s 1140 acres include the narrow valley along San Pedro Creek’s middle fork and the steep ridges draining the south fork. San Pedro Valley has a significant place in early Bay Area history as the site of Indian villages and the site of Gaspar de Portolá’s camp from which his scouts climbed the ridge to get their first view of San Francisco Bay. An early outpost for Mission Dolores was in this valley, as was the adobe home of Francisco Sanchez, still standing and now a San Mateo County museum.

Park trails offer a number of easy, level strolls and some vigorous climbs to the ridges above the valley. The creeks run clear, and are still spawning grounds for the steelhead trout that migrate upstream to the park each winter. The creeks furnish a substantial part of Pacifica’s water supply.

Ocean fogs often roll in to shroud surrounding ridgetops, but San Pedro Mountain tempers winds from the west, sheltering the sunny valley. The same mild climate that led the Ohlone Indians to build their village by the creek makes San Pedro Valley Park a place to return to in all seasons.

Jurisdiction: San Mateo County: 650-363-4020

Facilities: Visitor center, picnic tables, and barbecues for families and groups; trails for hikers; self-guiding nature trail, wheelchair accessible; wheelchairs for day use offered free

Rules: Open 8 A.M. to dusk; bicycles permitted on Weiler Road only; no dogs; fee

Maps: San Mateo County San Pedro Valley Park; USGS topo Montara Mountain

How to Get There: From Hwy 1 in the south end of Pacifica turn east on Linda Mar Blvd. and drive to the park entrance.

A LOOP TRIP TO THE OLD TROUT FARM AND THE WESTERN HILLSIDE

A short, shady walk along both sides of San Pedro Creek’s South Fork passes the Old Trout Farm and returns on the western hillside.

Distance: 1.25-mile loop

Time: 30–45 minutes

Elevation Change: Relatively level

After exploring the visitor center, which has something for the whole family, you’ll find this trip is just right for a bit of exercise before a picnic lunch at the Old Trout Farm Picnic Area. Children will enjoy display cases of the park’s animals, and botany buffs will delight in the well-mounted specimens of a surprising variety of plants. Photographs trace San Pedro Valley’s long history.

Shortly beyond the beginning of the Old Trout Farm Loop Trail, look to your right for the tanks that are the remnants of John Gay’s trout farm, washed away in the floods of 1962. Under overhanging trees draped with German ivy and tangles of berry brambles that almost obscure the view of the creek, the trail continues for about ⅓ mile. Turn back when you will, or bear right at a park gate to continue the loop through a narrow canyon that once was a domestic garden. Stone steps lead to a sturdy bridge that crosses intermittent Brooks Creek where horsetails, ferns, willows, and currants flourish. After the bridge the trail continues uphill beside new redwood trees emerging through the dense eucalyptus forest.

You can follow this trail along the park’s western hillside back to the picnic grounds, or bear sharp left at the first intersection to climb to the northwestern heights of the park on the Brooks Creek Trail.

NORTH RIDGE LOOP

This trip climbs a west-facing slope on the Valley View Trail and then descends to join Weiler Ranch Road farther up the valley.

Distance: 2.2-mile loop

Time: 1 hour

Elevation Change: 600’ gain

Cross the creek on a bridge from the main parking lot to the left of the visitor center. Continue past the group picnic area under venerable walnut trees. Turn right on Weiler Ranch Road, then almost immediately veer left on the Valley View Trail, which takes off uphill.

If you want a short level walk, continue on the road to one of the two picnic tables between the beginning and the end of the Valley View Trail. But for a brisk walk up the ridge before lunch, you can take the Valley View Trail and be back in less than an hour. In spring the meadow-side tables look out over a field of poppies, lupines, buttercups, and wild mustard.

The Valley View Trail climbs a sunny slope, then enters a eucalyptus grove and emerges in fragrant chaparral. From here you can look south to the heights of Montara Mountain. In April blue coast iris blooms in the grasslands. From the ridgetop easy switchbacks take you down to Weiler Ranch Road, on which you can return to the park office. For a longer walk you can follow this easy road to the upper end of the valley, where hills rise steeply to Sweeney Ridge a thousand feet above.

Point Reyes, Mt. Tamalpais, and the Pacific Coast from the Montara Mountain Trail

Or you can walk 0.4 mile east and climb the south ridge on the Hazelnut Ridge Trail for a longer loop; see the following trip.

An extension of the Valley View Trail is proposed to meet the Sweeney Ridge Trail in the GGNRA.

THE HAZELNUT RIDGE LOOP

After a climb up the high ridge on the Hazelnut Trail, return on a west-facing slope to the visitor center.

Distance: 4.3-mile loop

Time: 3 hours

Elevation Change: 800’ gain

On the Weiler Ranch Road, walk about 0.75 mile up the valley and cross the Middle Fork of San Pedro Creek on a bridge installed to facilitate steelhead navigation to spawning grounds on the upper reaches of this creek. Just after the bridge, the Hazelnut Trail turns off on your right. On this trail you make a wide swing west, then continue on switchbacks up the canyon wall. After a wide traverse east, you zigzag up a ridge, gaining 400 feet in elevation.

At the high point of the trail you come to a gentler grade in tall chaparral of coffeeberry, Montara manzanita, wild lilac, and scrub oak. You soon reach a high saddle between San Pedro Creek’s middle and south forks. A huge eucalyptus grove dominates the northwest end of the flat just before you begin the steep pitch downhill.

As the trail turns down in earnest, it doubles back and forth through a thicket of hazelnut, the shrub that gives the trail its name. You are soon at the foot of the hillside and crossing a sloping, flower-filled little meadow behind the visitor center, the end of the trip.

MONTARA MOUNTAIN TRAIL

Climb the park’s western ridge for dramatic ocean views.

Distance: 5 miles round trip

Time: 3 hours

Elevation Change: 1000’ gain

After the 1987 purchase of a strategic parcel of land between the adjoining McNee Ranch State Park and San Pedro Valley Park, San Mateo County built this trail. It crosses the steep southwestern slopes of the park and joins McNee Ranch State Park high on the saddle between San Pedro Mountain and Montara’s peaks.

Leaving from just west of the visitor center, this trail for hikers only zigzags uphill, at first traversing a eucalyptus grove on east-facing slopes. It then goes through coastal scrub—huckleberry, manzanita, ceanothus, chinquapin, silk-tassel bush, and the ubiquitous poison oak. From notches in the hills one has glimpses of the ocean; higher up are splendid views of the coastline from Point Reyes to Half Moon Bay, and east to Sweeney Ridge and Mt. Diablo. In spring, irises bloom beside the trail and waterfalls drop into steep-sided canyons. At the junction with the trail from McNee Ranch, a left turn onto this wide service road, open to bicyclists also, leads to the North Peak of Montara Mountain, about 2.4 miles farther uphill. A right turn leads downhill through the state park to its gate at Highway 1.

BROOKS CREEK/MONTARA MOUNTAIN TRAILS LOOP

Find the falls on the way to the ridge between two deep canyons.

Distance: 4.2-mile loop

Time: 2½ hours

Elevation Change: 460’ gain

Begin this trip on the hikers-only trail beside the restrooms at the picnic area west of the visitor center. Mount a few steps and turn left (west) on the other leg of the Old Trout Farm Trail, which makes a gentle climb along the base of the south-facing hillside. At each junction thereafter, bear right on the Brooks Creek Trail. You rise slowly up the hillside under tall pines, occasional redwoods, and many eucalyptus. When you leave the forest and get out into the chaparral, the views across the canyon open up and you see the Hazelnut Trail’s route on the opposite hill.

With sounds of water tumbling down the canyon and the scent of flowering shrubs and wildflowers in the air, you find a bench at the much-heralded waterfall viewing area. If you want to see the waterfall, come right after a winter storm clears and you will see and hear the triple falls dropping down the sheer mountainside. The great force of the water creates its own mist, which sometimes shrouds the canyon wall. At other times, the stream is not full enough to put on a big display. However, the hike to the bench is pleasant with dramatic vegetation changes as you climb.

To complete the loop trail, keep climbing on the Brooks Creek Trail in and out of ravines on the southeast-facing ridge. Beautiful specimens of gray-green silk tassel trees and veritable forests of mahogany-trunked manzanita crowd the trailside and several benches offer places to rest. You head into a deep ravine and around some switchbacks, and pass little streams gurgling down the mountain. You soon reach the ridgetop and join the Montara Mountain Trail. From vistas of a misty, forested canyon you switch to splendid views of the ocean and the flanks of Montara Mountain. Turn right (east) on this trail and steadily descend around the bends and return to the floor of the park.

McNee Ranch

Rising steeply from rocky seacliffs, McNee Ranch’s rugged slopes reach an elevation of 1500 feet near Montara Mountain’s peaks. The 700-acre park includes the saddle between San Pedro Mountain and Montara Mountain. Over this saddle went the Indian trail followed by Gaspar de Portolá’s party in 1769. Later it was the route of early wagon roads between coastal ranches. And in the 20th century the winding old San Pedro Road carried automobiles over the saddle until it was abandoned for the cliff-side Devils Slide route. Today the old road serves as a trail for hikers, bicyclists, and equestrians.

In McNee Ranch, a part of Montara State Beach, you can explore its steep hillsides and enjoy its wide coastal views from trails along the lower hillsides and on the trips described here following Old Pedro Mountain Road and a service road up the mountain. The southern leg of Old Pedro Mountain Road, partially paved and open to hikers, equestrians, and bicyclists, and the Farallone Cut-off path, for hikers only, link the park to the nearby community of Montara. (There is no parking at either Montara terminus, but the Farallone Cut-off path terminates at 2nd Street just across Highway 1 from the southern parking area at the restaurant on the south end of Montara State Beach.)

The State of California Department of Parks and Recreation purchased the McNee Ranch land in two parcels to accommodate a right-of-way for a possible Highway 1 bypass. In November 1996 citizens passed an initiative, Measure T, that substitutes a tunnel through San Pedro Mountain as the preferred route and gives it priority for federal and state highway funding. This route will preserve the park’s trails and scenic values.

In 2001 the Peninsula Open Space Trust purchased the 4262-acre Rancho Corral de Tierra lands south and east of McNee Ranch. These lands share more than three miles of boundary with the San Francisco Watershed, which extends over the hills to I-280 and beyond. When Congress agrees to pay the remaining half of the purchase price, this remarkable piece of undeveloped land could be added to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Jurisdiction: State of California, Department of Parks and Recreation: 650-726-8819

Facilities: Trails for hikers, equestrians, and bicyclists; emergency phone, restrooms, and picnic table near ranger residence; restroom and ample parking across from Gray Whale Cove

Rules: Open from 8 A.M. to sunset

Maps: McNee Ranch brochure, Pease Press Trails of the Coastside and Northern Peninsula, and USGS topo Montara Mountain

How to Get There: From the north, take Hwy 1 south from Pacifica past Devils Slide to large parking area on east side of Hwy 1 opposite Gray Whale Cove State Beach or continue 0.5 mile to ample parking area at beach on west side of highway. From the south, drive 8 miles north from Half Moon Bay to ample parking at Montara State Beach or across from 2nd St. at small parking area just south of the restaurant at the beach. Limited parking near park gate.

OLD PEDRO MOUNTAIN ROAD TO THE SADDLE

For fine views of the ocean and coastal hills take this route on a clear day.

Distance: 6.4 miles round trip

Time: 3½ hours

Elevation Change: 925’ gain

From the entrance gate on Highway 1, walk ahead 0.2 mile on the cypress-lined road to the ranger’s residence, then bear left on the Old Pedro Mountain Road. The first section of this old road can be gullied after heavy rains, though less steep than the service road, passable on foot, and therefore much better for foot and bicycle travel. The old road you take upward was for many years the principal north-south highway along the coast. Its pavement is now worn and eroded, but yellow and blue bush lupine and sagebrush cover its banks. There are serious washouts along this road, but non-motorized travel can maneuver around them with caution. After 1.1 miles you join the service road, the North Peak Access Road, and continue upward on it.

Looking east from Montara Mountain to Watershed and Sweeney Ridge

From this junction you see fields planted with rows of vegetables and flowers on the far side of Martini Creek. Above you tower Montara’s peaks, chaparral-covered and formidable. Broad Montara State Beach stretches south, and on a rise out of sight is Montara Lighthouse. Now operated by Hostelling International, it is an appealing place for an overnight stay while exploring the park.

A half mile past the junction, the steep North Access Road turns right up the mountain to communications installations on its peaks, the route of another trip in the park. Keep left on Old San Pedro Mountain Road, colloquially known as Old Pedro Mountain Road. A short section of this road is washed out beyond this junction, but with caution it is possible to scramble down and back up to the old road level. From there the next 0.5 mile is on an easy grade.

It is worth the climb to reach the high flower garden that this old roadway becomes in late spring and summer. Its banks then bloom in brilliant variety, with red and yellow Indian paintbrush, purple pussy paws, orange wallflowers, blue-eyed grass, buttercups, and more. West over the steeply descending hillside is the blue of the Pacific Ocean.

As you continue around the hillside, you come to large outcrops of granitic rocks. This light-colored igneous rock is exposed on this mountain and in only a few other places in the Bay Area, such as the Farallon Islands and Inverness Ridge. This is the same kind of rock you see at Yosemite Valley, formed beneath the surface many eons ago.

Old Pedro Mountain Road winds around the mountain, veers left at the Saddle Pass, the bypass section Caltrans once proposed for deep cuts, and continues to a gate marking the park’s boundary. From the gate Old Pedro Mountain Road passes through private property and down to San Pedro Valley, but you retrace your steps from the gate. When the day is clear, you will have views northeast from the saddle toward Sweeney Ridge and up the coast toward San Francisco.

TO MONTARA MOUNTAIN’S NORTH PEAK

A steady, 3.9-mile climb takes you to rewarding top-of-the-world views.

Distance: 7.8 miles round trip

Time: 5 hours

Elevation Change: 1798’ gain

Start from the Highway 1 entrance as in the previous trip, but pass to the right of the ranger’s residence, and continue to the North Peak Access Road as it veers north up Montara Mountain. On this steep service road you are soon in tall chaparral of wild lilac, coffeeberry, scrub oak, and here and there a few chinquapins— that sturdy tree with burrs and yellow-backed leaves that occurs on some dry slopes like these.

As you rise along the road and round the mountain, views are to the north and the east. Mileages differ for this trip: a sign at the junction with the Montara Mountain Trail coming up from San Pedro Valley County Park to the northeast says it is 2.4 miles to the summit and 2.1 miles to the beach. Local hikers say it is 3.9 miles from Highway 1 to North Peak. Nonetheless, from this junction on this wide, gravelly road you round many curves, sometimes it flattens out and then climbs again.

When you cross a flat where giant outcrops of granitic rock stand like medieval monuments, you may see the indigenous, rare Montara Mountain manzanita growing low between the rocks. Where there is less wind this native shrub can grow up to ten feet tall. Its white, bell-shaped flowers dangle in clusters at the end of its upright branches. From this high plateau you are 0.5 mile from Montara’s peaks.

Continue up the mountain to North Peak, pass the private road leading to communications stations on the summit (1898 feet above sea level), and find a sunny, protected place to enjoy the view. On a clear day, views from the mountaintop are awesome. Southeast are the green heights of Scarpers Peak and the ridges of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Below lie the coastal terrace of Half Moon Bay and its beaches. West and north you see Mt. Tamalpais across the Golden Gate, the Bay, and the skyscrapers of San Francisco; east are the bridges, the East Bay hills, and Mt. Diablo in Contra Costa County. Below are the eastern ridges of adjoining San Pedro Valley County Park.

Gray Whale Cove seen from Montara Mountain on a crystal clear day

Your return to sea level is faster than the upward climb. In fact, the descent on the gravelly surface may be faster than you wish! Beware of speeding bicyclists around blind curves.

A SHORT TRIP TO GRAY WHALE COVE

A springtime treat on a trail festooned with flowers.

Distance: Hikers—less than 2 miles round trip; bicyclists and equestrians—2.5 miles round trip

Time: ¾ hour

Elevation Change: Relatively level

Just inside the entrance gate to McNee Ranch, hikers go left, uphill (north) onto a narrow foot trail that skirts the cypress trees and emerges on an open hillside blossoming with myriad shades of spring wildflowers. Bicyclists and equestrians follow the entrance road and bear left at the ranger station on Old Pedro Mountain Road as in as in the first trip, Old Pedro Mountain Road to the Saddle. All modes meet where Old Pedro Mountain Road veers sharply right in the ravine and a narrow trail climbs left to reach the bluff trail.

On a clear, bright day the views up and down the Coast and out to sea are superb. The Gray Whale Cove Trail meanders along above Highway 1 traffic with detours to several benches at strategic viewpoints. Toward the end of this short trail there is a dramatic view of the southernmost cove of Gray Whale Cove State Beach—deep azure blue, almost green at times, washed with the white curls of incoming waves.

As you reach the Gray Whale Cove parking area, descend around several switchbacks through lush coastal vegetation. Ferns, tall mustard, cow’s parsnip, California bee plant, blue iris, and pink Clarkia add color and fragrance. Return the way you came for views south and east, especially the uncluttered, golden strand of Montara State Beach stretching a mile along the Pacific’s edge.

Junipero Serra County Park

This 100-acre wooded park in the curve of Junipero Serra Freeway (I-280), just minutes from homes in San Bruno, provides a quick retreat from the urban scene into protected meadows and woods. The park, situated on a long ridge, once quarried for its Franciscan sandstone, offers several miles of trails, attractive picnic sites, and a visitor center.

From the park entrance, meadows, picnic grounds, and parking areas extend left and right. On weekends families and groups gravitate to this sheltered canyon. The entrance road winds uphill past park headquarters and the picnic tables, continuing to the very top, where still more picnic tables nestle in a eucalyptus grove. This hilltop site offers spectacular views. From these wide views of mountains and Bay, the eye and the ear are drawn to the San Francisco Airport. Air-age, flight-minded children (and others too) delight in the bird’s-eye view of planes taking off and landing.

At park headquarters, which serves as a visitor and information center, there are maps, exhibits, and information about long-ago inhabitants of this park—the Buri Buri tribe of Ohlones. A self-guiding nature trail through a wooded glade and a loop trail to the park’s summit make good warm-up trips before a picnic spread at one of the many tables in this attractive setting.

Jurisdiction: San Mateo County: 650-363-4020

Facilities: Trails for hikers and a nature trail; picnic areas with barbecues; covered shelters and group picnic areas available by reservation only; visitor center at park headquarters; youth-group camp by reservation

Rules: Open 8 A.M. to sunset; fees; no bikes on trails

Maps: San Mateo County Junipero Serra Park, USGS topo Montara Mountain

How to Get There: From I-280: Southbound—Take Crystal Springs Rd. exit, go under freeway, turn right on Crystal Springs Rd. and go 0.7 mile to park entrance on left. Park at lower picnic areas or continue to more parking on hilltop. Northbound—Take San Bruno Ave. exit and turn left onto San Bruno Ave. West. Go under freeway and turn left back onto 280 south. Immediately exit at Crystal Springs Road and follow directions for southbound above.

HIKE TO THE HILLTOP ON THE QUAIL LOOP TRAIL

Gaining altitude quickly on a zigzag climb, this trip leads to flowers in grasslands and woods and to protected slopes on the park’s east side.

Distance: 1.4-mile loop

Time: Less than 1 hour

Elevation Change: 300’ gain

To the right of the park entrance find the signed beginning of the Quail Loop Trail. You start climbing immediately, with oak trees overhead and patches of bright flowers at your feet. Early in spring, false Solomon’s seal plants droop with clusters of small white flowers, which later form panicles of red-brown berries. Switchbacks take you up the mountain, first out into an open grassy slope where sun-loving orange poppies and yellow mule ears dot the hillside. At the next switchback you are under the cover of oaks and toyons with ferns and snowberry underneath.

Toward the top of the hill you encounter Monterey pines and a large grove of mature eucalyptuses. Here the trail crosses the picnic grounds to reach the wide meadow on an east-facing slope. On a clear day the brilliant Bay waters are set against the backdrop of East Bay cities and tree-topped hills. After taking in the sweep of Bay from north of San Francisco to its southern shores, continue on the Quail Loop Trail past the Crows Nest picnic shelter and bear left to descend across the meadow.

Pink owl’s clover brightens trailsides

At the first trail junction you could turn left to reach the visitor center at park headquarters, but instead stay on the Quail Loop Trail, which swings right. From the next trail junction the Quail Loop Trail goes left on a long traverse through woods of magnificent oaks back to the picnic areas near the park entrance.

If you would like to extend your trip, pass up the left Quail Loop Trail turnoff and continue down the hill for around two short zigzags to the next trail junction. Park signs offer the choice of going to San Bruno City Park or back to the park entrance on the Live Oak Nature Trail. If you take the San Bruno option, this trail, following El Zanjon Creek down to the park and back, adds 3 miles to this hike. When Native Americans, the Costanoans, lived in this area, they probably followed this trail along the creek to reach San Francisco Bay. Mollusks and fish were abundant and constituted a major part of their diet, along with herbs, bulbs, nuts, and berries. By means of snares and bow and arrows they hunted birds and small mammals to fill out a substantial diet.

If you ignore this side trip to San Bruno City Park, you will take the left turn to descend quickly on the Live Oak Nature Trail. In about 200 yards, take either leg of this trail to return to the meadows below.

TWO SHORT WALKS IN THE CANYON

The 0.5-mile Live Oak Nature Trail leaves the lower meadow parking area going left on the hillside just above El Zanjon Creek. The creek probably got its name from a Spanish word meaning “deep ditch’’ or “slough.” Through an oak glade follow the trail in the shade of live oaks. In fall, poison oak bushes put on a brilliant red-orange display in the understory. Now crossing open grasslands, you see east to Mt. Diablo, the main reference point for surveying in northern California. The trail circles back on the shady upper hillside, then drops down to return to its starting point.

Another short walk goes by the Willow Shelter to the right of the park entrance on a service road above El Zanjon Creek, past picnic tables in the shade of oak groves. From the end of this road it is just a third mile back to the park entrance.

Mills Canyon Nature Area—Burlingame

Under Mexican rule, Mills Canyon was part of Rancho Buri Buri, which included most of northeast San Mateo County, extending as far south as present-day San Mateo. In the early 1860s Darius Ogden Mills and his brother-in-law, Ansel Easton, each bought 1500 acres of Rancho Buri Buri. The division between their two holdings ran straight through this canyon. Most of Mills’ estate was in contemporary Millbrae, but this land, including the upper part of this canyon which takes his name, was eventually annexed to Burlingame.

The city acquired the canyon as a park and wildlife area, and in 1978 volunteers built a delightful, hikers-only, 1.75-mile loop called the Ed Taylor Trail, in honor of the man who built the trail and inspired the volunteers. Dedicated in September 1983, the trail is maintained by local volunteers, the Friends of Mill Canyon, with the help of the city of Burlingame. This group offers a variety of hikes from the Adeline Street entrance on the second Saturday of every month, featuring topics on wildlife, native plants, geology, and insects, and a yearly nature treasure hunt for children. Eagle Scouts built the steps from Adeline Drive and other Scouts put up information boards at the trail entrance.

The Nature Area is open from 8 A.M. to dusk. To get to the Adeline Drive entrance, from El Camino or Skyline Blvd. in Burlingame take Hillside Drive and turn northeast on Adeline Drive to off-street parking. For the Arguello Drive entrance from I-280 or El Camino Real in Burlingame, take Trousdale Drive, and turn south on Sebastian Drive. In two blocks, turn right on Arguello Drive and go to the park entrance on the south side of the 3000 block.

This 1.75-mile loop trail through a tight little canyon in suburban Burlingame traverses open northwest slopes, then dips down into deep woods beside Mills Creek. On a summer day this canyon is a cool, sheltered place for a leisurely walk along a little watercourse, relatively unchanged since the early settlers came here. On fair winter days the southern sun shining on the northwest hillside will warm you while you enjoy the views down the canyon.

As you enter the preserve from Arguello Drive, a large sign tells you to start your trip on the Ed Taylor Trail which begins to your right about 25 feet from the entrance. This path descends gently through willows, live oaks, coyote bushes, and toyons for about 20 yards to a trail junction, marked by a sign post with arrows pointing to the Creekside Trail. This trail turns off sharply to the right, while the North Trail continues straight ahead on the upper hillside. By beginning on the North Trail, you have a shady uphill return on the Creekside Trail—best for warm summer days.

For Bay views, take the North Trail first, returning on the trail by the creek. On the North Trail you follow a shady path under huge, high-branched live oaks, then emerge into mixed grassland interspersed with young oaks. Then, descending along the upper edge of a tributary to Mills Creek, you follow the north bank of Mills Creek upstream winding in and out of little ravines. When you come upon a plank bridge with chain handrails that crosses to the south side of the creek at Adeline Drive, pass it to reach two tall and picturesque outcrops of graywacke, a rock formation associated with the San Andreas Fault. Then continue on the path upstream past mossy rocks and lacy wood ferns to a succession of miniature cascades and small pools. Before long the path to the main entrance turns uphill, and you leave this little creek, which below the park flows beside homes and schools, under streets and finally into the Bay at Burlingame’s Shoreline Bird Sanctuary.

Trails on Northern San Francisco Watershed Lands

San Francisco Watershed— the Bay Area Ridge Trail Route

The 15-mile linear valley running through the Watershed was formed over the millennia by movements along the San Andreas Fault. For perhaps thousands of years before the coming of the Spanish this valley was the site of Native American villages. From then until the dams were built, it was a place of small, fertile farms and a few inns. The Crystal Springs Hotel, built in 1855, a popular spa of its day, gave the lakes their name.

In the northern Watershed between the San Francisco County line and Highway 92 there are two fine trails east of the San Andreas lakes and one long trail on the west side. Each of these trails is open to the public for hiking and horseback and bicycle riding. The Sawyer Camp Historic Trail and the San Andreas Trail on the east side of the lakes, longtime Peninsula favorites, are managed by San Mateo County and are the most used of any of the County parks.

Negotiations over location of I-280 through the Watershed south of Highway 92 led to a 1969 agreement between the federal government, the State of California, the City and County of San Francisco, and San Mateo County to place the freeway farther east of the lakes than originally proposed. This agreement granted two easements affecting the Watershed lands and guaranteed certain scenic and recreation rights in perpetuity to the people of the United States.

Roughly 19,000 acres on the west side of the lakes are designated as a scenic easement. They must remain undeveloped—preserved for watershed capacity, scenic quality, and limited access. East of the lakes, 4000 acres of the Watershed will continue for their scenic value and watershed purposes, but may also be used for recreation, including trails someday.

The longest and newest trail is a 9.5-mile segment of the Bay Area Ridge Trail that starts beside the cemetery lands at the upper junction of Highways 92 and 35 (Skyline Boulevard) and follows Fifield/Cahill Ridge roads to the Portola Gate in Sweeney Ridge—Golden Gate National Recreation Area’s open space lands south of Skyline College in San Bruno.

At this writing, the Ridge Trail hikes, bicycle rides, and horseback rides are open to docent-led trips only. Trips are available on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. To sign up for one of these trips, to act as a docent, or to learn more about the Ridge Trail in the Watershed look at the website http://sfwater.org.

Presently, trips start from the old Watershed quarry, halfway up the mountain on the north side of Highway 92. From there it is a steep, approximately 1.5-mile climb to the Fifield/Cahill Ridge service road that meanders along the middle ridge of the Watershed lands. On this wide, fenced, gravel-surfaced road, you travel along Cahill Ridge through a tall, mature forest of Douglas firs interspersed with some redwoods. The understory is lush with bay trees, toyon bushes, and ferns draping old stumps and tree branches. There are too, occasional escapes from urban gardens, such as English holly.

From a few openings in the forest you can see San Francisco Bay, Mt. Diablo, and the East Bay hills. In the foreground are the San Andreas Lakes, though not as easily seen from this leg of the trip. A few patches of open grassland offer a view west across the canyon of Pilarcitos Creek to the upper ridges of Starker Peak. In less than 4 miles on the service road you reach the junction known as Five Points, which is the stopping point on the Ridge Trail route for the shorter trips.

However, the longer trip continues another 5 miles to the Portola Gate. This section beyond Five Points on Fifield Ridge becomes hilly and the trees fewer, but wildflowers in spring are glorious. At the top of the first hill beyond Five Points, you can look back to Pilarcitos Lake nestled in a wooded canyon on the west side of the ridge. The near view takes in the length of the San Andreas and Crystal Springs Lakes in the San Andreas Rift Valley. Beyond is the Bay shoreline curving south from San Bruno Point to Coyote Point. And farther off are the city of San Francisco, the Bay Bridge, and across the Bay, Mt. Diablo rising above the East Bay hills in the foreground.

For hikers there is a shuttle at the Portola Gate in Sweeney Ridge or at the Sneath Lane entrance 3.5 miles northeast. Check the website to sign up and see the Watershed on foot, on horseback, or by bicycle.

Looking northwest from old Watershed road, proposed extension of the Sawyer Camp Trail

San Andreas Trail

The wide, paved San Andreas Trail follows the eastern boundary of the San Francisco Watershed, giving views of the lakes and the wooded mountains. At Larkspur Drive it becomes a hiking and equestrian path, winding through the trees and underbrush in a fenced right-of-way until it reaches Hillcrest Boulevard.

Jurisdiction: San Mateo County: 650-363-4020

Facilities: Southern section of trail for hikers and equestrians; north section also open to bicyclists

Rules: Open dawn to dusk

Maps: See map. San Mateo County Mid-County Trails; USGS topo Montara Mountain

How to Get There: (1) North entrance: (a) Northbound—Take Skyline Blvd. to San Bruno Ave., turn east for streetside parking, use signalized crosswalk at corner of Skyline Blvd. and San Bruno Ave. to reach trail entrance on west side of road; (b) Southbound—from Skyline Blvd. follow directions above. (2) South entrance: (a) Northbound—from I-280 take Millbrae Ave. exit, go north on frontage road to Hillcrest Blvd., then west (left) under freeway to parking at trail entrance on right; (b) Southbound— from I-280 take Larkspur Dr. exit, go under freeway and turn south on frontage road to Hillcrest Blvd; turn right under freeway to trail entrance.

By Bus: One of the few trails with good bus access. The south entrance can be reached by Samtrans on weekdays and Saturdays.

Distance: 6 miles round trip

Time: 3 hours

Elevation Change: Relatively level

As you start down the 3-mile San Andreas Trail from the north entrance, you can see directly in the west the spot on the ridge from which Gaspar de Portolá first saw San Francisco Bay in 1769. A proposed extension of this trail would someday reach the trail to this “Discovery Site.”

The San Andreas Reservoir now fills the valley, which for centuries before the coming of the Spaniards was the site of Native American villages. As Portolá’s party was searching for a site for a mission and presidio in the northern part of the Peninsula, his diarist and historian, Father Francisco Palou, and his scout, Captain Fernando Rivera, went through this valley on November 30, 1774. Palou named it San Andrés, honoring that saint’s feast day.

Later, the earthquake-fault valley north of the present dam site was included in the Rancho Feliz, where Spaniards grazed cattle and grew wheat. There were no Spanish settlements here, reportedly because of trouble with bears. It is now surmised that the bear population may have exploded when the cattle provided an increased food supply.

With the coming of the Anglos in the 19th century the valley became a place of small farms and a dairy. In the mid-1880s farmers and herdsmen were still hunting down marauding bears and mountain lions that were attacking their cattle. San Francisco’s Spring Valley Water Company began buying up the farms in the valley in the late 1860s, and the lands have been kept as a watershed from that time. The bears are now gone, but the vast and still-wild watershed (also a State Fish and Game Refuge) harbors a great variety of animals, probably including mountain lions, a few eagles and some endangered species.

The first 2.4 miles of the San Andreas Trail are paved, from the San Bruno Avenue/Skyline Boulevard entrance to Larkspur Drive. From the end of this paved path to the Sawyer Camp Trail entrance at Hillcrest Boulevard, hikers and equestrians take a cleared and maintained 0.6-mile path in a wooded corridor next to the freeway. Runners use the trail frequently, perhaps because the forest floor is springy underfoot and the air fragrant with the scent of pine needles. Bicyclists must travel on Skyline Boulevard to Hillcrest Boulevard, where they turn right to the paved Sawyer Camp Trail.

In spite of the noisy presence of the freeway, you can enjoy the outlook to the west as the path winds through groves of Monterey pines and old plantings of cypresses, with vistas of the lake below and the western hills beyond.

Sawyer Camp Trail

A historic road of singular beauty extends for 6 miles through the San Francisco Watershed lands past the sparkling San Andreas and Crystal Springs lakes. The road is paved, but open to hikers, equestrians, and bicyclists only. The camp that gave the road its name was in a small flat in the San Andreas Valley where in the 1870s, Leander Sawyer trained performing horses for circuses. Later he ran an inn here for travelers on their way to Half Moon Bay.

The sunny meadow by the creek where Sawyer had his camp had earlier been home to the Shalshone Indians (a tribelet of the Ohlones), who hospitably offered wild fruits and seed cakes to Gaspar de Portolá’s expedition when it passed this way in 1769. During Sawyer’s day, wagons pulled by teams of eight horses hauled wood over the road on their way to San Francisco and stage coaches used it as an alternative route from San Francisco to Half Moon Bay.

When San Francisco took over the Watershed lands, narrow, winding Sawyer Camp Road was kept open and later fenced on either side for protection of the Watershed. San Mateo County closed the road to motorized vehicles in 1978, and it is now officially the Sawyer Camp Historic Trail.

Jurisdiction: San Mateo County: 650-363-4020

Facilities: Trail for hikers, bicyclists, and equestrians; picnic tables, restrooms, water at Jepson Laurel picnic area and north end of trail; telephones

Rules: Open dawn to sunset

Maps: See map, San Mateo County Jogging, Exercise and Bicycle Trails and USGS topos Montara Mountain and San Mateo

How to Get There: By car from I-280: (1) North entrance at Hillcrest Blvd: (a) Southbound—Take the Larkspur Dr. exit and go south on Skyline Blvd. to Hillcrest Blvd., then west under freeway to trail entrance on right; (b) Northbound—Take Millbrae Ave. exit and go north on Skyline Blvd., then west on Hillcrest Blvd. to trail entrance. (2) South entrance at Crystal Springs Rd: (a) Southbound—Take Hayne Rd. exit and go south on Skyline Blvd. to parking beside entrance gate on west side of road; (b) Northbound—Take Bunker Hill Dr. exit, cross over freeway, then go north on Skyline Blvd. past Crystal Springs Dam to entrance gate.

By Bicycle: Use the same approaches from Skyline Blvd. as for cars.

Distance: 6 miles one way

Time: 3 hours. A car shuttle is practical here. Shorter round trips on part of the trail from either end make good hikes.

Elevation Change: 400’ loss from north to south

Entering the trail at the north end, the first 1.75 miles descend from Skyline Boulevard to San Andreas Lake and its dam. The woods and lake are a pleasant introduction to the trail. Summer winds often ruffle the lake and drifts of fog sweep over the hills. On the far side of the dam look for a commemorative plaque that marks the hundredth anniversary of the dam’s completion in 1869. From here the trail heads south along a shady walk between the creek and a hillside of bay trees. Fern-covered banks bloom with purple iris and scarlet columbine. You may see the very rare shrub leatherwood, with its small yellow blossoms. It is found in only a few places in San Mateo County (one of them is Edgewood Park). The Indians used its tough, flexible branches for lacings.

In a small clearing along the way, about 30 yards west of the trail, is the venerable Jepson Bay Laurel, thought to be the second-oldest and largest in the state. In 1923 it was named in honor of Willis Jepson, one of California’s most noted botanists. The flowery little meadow around the tree was popular as a picnic spot in Mexican and early California times. Today the tree is fenced to protect it, and there is a picnic area nearby, and once again picnickers are enjoying this retreat beside the famous bay tree.

Here and there you will come to benches beside the trail for a place to rest, picnic, or enjoy the sound of a stream or a view of the lake. At about its halfway point, the trail crosses San Andreas Creek where it enters Lower Crystal Springs Lake. From here on, it borders the east side of the lake, giving a succession of views out over the bright waters to the wooded Watershed hills. The Peninsula’s own “Lake District” has a special enchantment whether mists are shrouding the mountains or the lakes are reflecting a blue sky.

A few hawks sail overhead. Grebes, ducks, and other waterfowl bob on the water, and the oaks by the trail are alive with countless small birds—countless except to the Audubon Society, which enumerates the species meticulously in its annual Christmas bird count; a recent count totaled 190 species. Bring your binoculars and favorite bird guide.

Along the road cuts you will see the greenish-gray serpentine, a rock that occurs through the foothills in San Mateo County. It is frequently found in major earthquake fault zones, and is associated with some of our finest wildflower displays.

The south end of the trail is on Skyline Boulevard at the Crystal Springs Dam that crosses the gorge of San Mateo Creek. (A proposed extension to Highway 92 is planned in the near future.) This is a good starting point for a 3+ mile walk north by the lake, with vistas of the shimmering waters around each bend. Your return trip brings you new views as you retrace your steps. Walk here in late winter when clouds are moving across the sky and sunshine alternates with light showers. The hills are already green, drifts of magenta Indian warriors bloom under the trees, and the first buds of iris appear. This is one of the Peninsula’s best walks for any time of the year and the most popular of San Mateo County parks.

Pilarcitos Lake seen from Bay Area Ridge Trail route through the Watershed