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Central Peninsula

From Highway 92 to Highway 84

West side of the Santa Cruz Mountains seen from La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve

Trails on Southern San Francisco Watershed Lands

Crystal Springs Trail

Bordering Upper Crystal Springs Lake, this trail traverses the linear valley on the San Andreas Rift Zone known by the Spaniards as Cañada de Raimundo, then continues through a corner of the Watershed and up through Huddart Park to the Skyline. Views of lakes, mountains and hills make this a beautiful trail for short trips along its segments. Connections with trails east and west make it a useful route for longer expeditions. The trail is part of San Mateo County’s north-south trail corridor, and it provides access to the regional Bay Area Ridge Trail

The Crystal Springs Trail follows the easement of the old California Riding and Hiking Trail between the boundary fence of the Watershed and Cañada Road, from Highway 92 to Huddart Park and up to the Skyline. Although the trail easement extends north to the Sawyer Camp Trail, a 1.3-mile segment from Highway 92 to the Crystal Springs Dam is proposed.

The nearly 10-mile Crystal Springs Trail appears in this book in three sections: (1) from Cañada Road at Highway 92 to Edgewood and Cañada roads, (2) from Edgewood Road to Huddart Park, and (3) through the park to the Skyline. The first trip in Huddart Park, An All-Day Hike Circling the Park, features this trail.

At the Pulgas Water Temple grounds there is a small parking area, open on weekdays from 9 A.M. TO 4 P.M. No roadside parking is allowed within a mile on either side. However, the lovely water temple and its reflecting pool and grounds, open to pedestrians and bicyclists, make a fine destination from either end of the trail.

Jurisdiction: San Mateo County: 650-363-4020

Facilities: Trail for hikers and equestrians

Rules: Open from 8 A.M. to sunset; no bicycles

Maps: San Mateo County Mid-County Trails; USGS topos San Mateo and Woodside

How to Get There: From I-280: (1) North entrance: (a) Southbound—Take Half Moon Bay exit to Skyline Blvd. (Hwy 35), go south to Hwy 92, and then turn east. Turn south on Cañada Rd. and go 0.2 mile to trail entrance on west side of road just opposite the Ralston Trail/I-280 Overcrossing Trail junction; (b) Northbound— Take Hwy 92 exit west to Cañada Rd. Turn south for 0.2 mile to trail entrance. (2) South entrance: Take Edgewood Rd. exit, go west to Edgewood/Cañada Rd. intersection, where there is parking. No parking at Raymundo Drive cul-de-sac entrance to Huddart Park. Note: No parking is allowed on Cañada Rd. Canada Rd. is closed to motor-vehicle traffic from the intersection of Hwy 92 to Edgewood Rd. for “Bicycle Sunday,” a popular event held every Sunday year-round.

HIGHWAY 92 TO EDGEWOOD AND CAÑADA ROADS

Lakeside views give way to broad, parklike meadows set against a backdrop of wooded slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Distance: 4 miles one way

Time: 2 hours

Elevation Change: Relatively level

The trip south begins on a path departing from a point on Cañada Road, 0.2 mile south of Highway 92 and just across the road from the western entrance to the Ralston Trail/I-280 Overcrossing. You can also walk north along this unimproved lakeside trail as far as the intersection of Highway 92 and Skyline Boulevard. At times the trail swings away from the road, coming close to the lake, or leads down below road level through oak groves.

The lake is a resting place for water birds on the Pacific Flyway, so take your binoculars. Even without them you will easily identify the big, brownish Canada geese that winter here. Flocks of them often gather along the shores. In the early morning and evening you may see herds of deer grazing in the fields or drinking at the water’s edge.

Soon after the trail leaves the lakeside, it passes the point where the Sheep Camp Trail joins the east side of Cañada Road. From here to the Pulgas Water Temple the trail is on a bank above the road. The Water Temple grounds, re-opened on October 25, 2004, the temple’s 70th birthday, are open to the public from 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. daily, and include lawns for picnicking and sunning, and the Water Temple itself. At the end of a long reflecting pool is the classic little Pulgas Water Temple, where waters from high in the Sierra thunder into the sluiceway to the Crystal Springs lakes. Inscribed around the pediment are words from the Book of Isaiah, “I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert to give drink to my people.”

Continuing south you see on the valley floor to the west open fields and groves of stately oaks, a part of the Filoli estate, which once belonged to W.B. Bourn, president of the Spring Valley Water Company. The name for the estate was coined by Bourn from “Fight,” “Love,” and “Live,” taken from “Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, and live a good life.” A later owner, Mrs. William Roth, changed the “fight” to “fidelity.” Designed by Willis Polk and completed in 1917, Filoli was the last of the great mansions built in San Mateo County.

Crystal Springs Trail from Cañada Road

Filoli was purchased by the Roth family in 1934, and Mrs. Roth gave the estate to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1975. The Filoli Center, a nonprofit organization, operates the center. The mansion is hardly visible from the trail, but its beautiful formal gardens and the mansion itself, as well as its nature trails, are open for tours by arrangement with the Filoli Center.

From the Filoli gates your trail passes more oak-bordered meadows to reach the stone gates at the foot of Edgewood Road, the end of this trip. From there the Crystal Springs Trail continues on to Huddart Park.

EDGEWOOD AND CAÑADA ROADS TO HUDDART PARK

A short trip over a hill through the Watershed and down to West Union Creek in Huddart Park.

Distance: 2.4 miles one way

Time: 1¼ hours

Elevation Change: 200’ gain

As you pass the stone gates at the foot of Edgewood Road, fields extend on either side of Cañada Road. Come this way in April and May to see some of the Peninsula’s most dazzling displays of wildflowers. They thrive on the thin, magnesium-rich soil over serpentine rock outcroppings. Swatches of intense blue larkspur bloom against great drifts of cream cups, goldfields, poppies, lupines, and owl’s clover. Admire these flowers from the roadside paths, photograph or paint them, but do not cross the fence and walk among them. The fields have been set aside as a preserve in the Watershed, and these flowers, if left undisturbed, will continue to bloom year after year to amaze and delight your great-grandchildren.

Where Cañada Road turns east to cross under the freeway, the trail continues south beside the freeway for nearly a mile between wire fences, the freeway on one side and the Watershed lands on the other. It’s not so attractive a stretch for walkers, but the cinderpath surface is popular with equestrians and joggers.

The Crystal Springs Trail emerges from the cinderpath at Runnymede Road at the Woodside town boundary. From here another fenced trail goes about a mile across a corner of the Watershed and south on an easement to Raymundo Drive. From this point walk west on Raymundo Drive 0.2 mile to its cul-de-sac.

The trail leaves the south side of the cul-de-sac, descending into oak woods on switchbacks for 0.3 mile to the redwood groves beside West Union Creek. Here a footbridge takes you across to forested Huddart Park. The Crystal Springs Trail continues upstream by the creek, then turns up through the park on the 3.5-mile trip to the Skyline described in An All-Day Hike Circling the Park, the first trip in the section on Huddart Park. Access to the Phleger Estate also is possible from this trail.

For groups with a backpack excursion in mind, there is a trail camp (by reservation) about 1.25 miles up the trail on the park’s secluded north side. From there you can explore the miles of trail in the park, or climb up the mountainside to the Skyline Trail (and Bay Area Ridge Trail route) across to Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve.

The Ralston Bike Trail/I-280 Overcrossing

A wide, mile-long pedestrian, equestrian, and bicycle path and freeway overpass crosses high above 10-lane Junipero Serra Freeway, I-280, at its interchange with Highway 92. It connects the bike path on Ralston Avenue in Belmont to Cañada Road north of the Sheep Camp Trail junction.

Jurisdiction: San Mateo County: 650-363-4020

Facilities: Pedestrian, equestrian, and bicycle path

Rules: Open sunrise to sunset

Map: See map; USGS topo San Mateo

How to Get There: From I-280: (1) East entrance—Take Hwy 92 exit east, then take Ralston Ave. exit. At first traffic signal, 1.13 miles east of Ralston/Polhemus/Hwy 92 interchange, park on south side of Ralston Ave. (2) West entrance: (a) Northbound—Take Hwy 92 west to Cañada Rd. Go south on it 0.2 mile to gate on east side. Parking is on either side of road. (b) Southbound— Take Half Moon Bay exit to Skyline Blvd. (Hwy 35) and continue south to Hwy 92, then turn east to Cañada Rd. Go south on it 0.2 mile to gate on east side.

Distance: 2 miles round trip

Time: 1 hour

Elevation Change: 125’ loss

This is no quiet country trail, but a paved, fenced path and concrete structure vaulting over the freeway. At this writing, the surface is a bit rough and cracked, but it is the only way to cross the freeway on foot, horse, or bicycle at this point. From Ralston Avenue the path goes through a gate to the Watershed lands and descends along chaparral-covered slopes. It curves south and then rises steeply to the arched structure over the freeway. A swift drop on the other side and a sharp right turn take you down to Cañada Road. On the west side you can pick up the roadside Crystal Springs Trail.

An interesting 6.2-mile circle hike starting at the Ralston Avenue entrance combines the Overcrossing Trail, part of the Crystal Springs Trail, the Sheep Camp Trail, and the upper part of the Waterdog Lake Trail. When the Waterdog Lake Trail reaches Hallmark Drive, walk north on it to Ralston Avenue, then west on the Ralston bike path to where you started. These trails are described more fully in their separate chapters.

Ralston Bike Trail/I-280 Overcrossing nearing Cañada Road

Sheep Camp Trail

A scenic downhill trip from the eastern crest of the Watershed winds downhill to cross under I-280. On the far side the trail meanders through sheltered oak groves and small meadows to join the Crystal Springs Trail at Cañada Road.

Jurisdiction: San Mateo County: 650-363-4020

Facilities: Trail for hikers and equestrians

Rules: Open 8 A.M. to sunset; no dogs or bicycles

Maps: See map; USGS topos San Mateo and Woodside

How to Get There: From I-280 take Hwy 92 east to Ralston Ave., turn south on Hallmark Dr., west on Benson Way and south on St. James Rd. Gate to Watershed is on right.

Distance: 2 miles round trip

Time: 1 hour

Elevation Change: 400’ loss

Enter through the green gates to the Watershed. Walk straight ahead on the graveled road over the grassy slope to the sign SHEEP CAMP TRAIL,. CAÑADA ROAD 1.6 KM. No sheep are in sight, but around the bend is a view of eight or ten concrete lanes of the Junipero Serra Freeway, which would surprise its namesake, the Franciscan Father who trod a more modest path between his missions.

Keep going downhill on the road and cross under the freeway. As the road starts up the hill to the vista point, go instead through a gate on the right. From here a dirt and gravel road takes you away from the freeway roar into the Watershed’s quiet oak woods and small meadows. About 0.5 mile from the gate you reach Cañada Road. On the far side is the Crystal Springs Trail, which goes south to Huddart Park and north to Highway 92. Just 0.4 mile south is the Pulgas Water Temple, a pleasant picnic destination.

For an interesting 6.2-mile loop trip on the Sheep Camp Trail and other trails in this area, see the description of the Ralston Trail/I-280 Overcrossing. Someday it may be possible to make a 9-mile loop hike using the Sheep Camp, Crystal Springs, Edgewood, Pulgas Ridge, and Watershed boundary trails. Only a short connection from Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve to the eastern Watershed boundary trail is missing at this writing.

Cross Country Running Course

Considered one of the best running courses in the Bay Area, this course has a location on the eastern crest of the Watershed that makes it a good walking trail as well. Here is a chance to check your pace on carefully measured and marked loop paths.

Jurisdiction: San Francisco Water Department; maintained by College of San Mateo, 650-574-6448.

Facilities: Trails for runners, joggers, and hikers; drinking fountains at trail entrance

Rules: Open to runners, joggers, and hikers except during competition events; no dogs; no bicycles; no smoking

Maps: See map, city of Belmont Jogging Trails, available at the Parks Department, USGS topo San Mateo

How to Get There: From I-280 take Hwy 92 east. Take Ralston Ave. exit, turn right on Hallmark Dr. and continue to Hallmark Park on west side of street just before Wakefield Dr. Park along street. Take path through trees by tennis courts to running course.

Distance: 0.5 to 7.5 miles

Time: 15 minutes to 4 hours, or as long as you like

Elevation Change: Relatively level

This championship course, started some 40 years ago by two College of San Mateo coaches, had to be rerouted because of the construction of I-280. Its popularity continues to increase. Local, regional and state high-school and community-college competitions held during the months of September, October, and November, draw large crowds, both runners and spectators.

Care of the course is under the direction of the College of San Mateo track and cross-country coaches. Volunteers do cleanup, mowing, and course conditioning. Walkers, hikers, and joggers can use the course, but should respect competitions by staying off the course during races.

From the start of the course at Hallmark Park the paths extend in loops west and south. The openness of the rolling hillsides and the views over Crystal Springs lakes to the Santa Cruz Mountains make this an exhilarating walk at any time of the year. In spring, poppies, lupines, daisies, blue-eyed grass, and brodiaeas bloom at your feet. In summer, coastal breezes cool what could be a hot, sunny path. And with these breezes come drifts of fog curling over the mountains to the west.

For other walks along the Watershed ridge from Hallmark Park you can take the graveled service roads of the San Francisco Water Department that follow the Watershed boundary. Good for walks in wet weather, these surfaced roads extend more than a mile west and southeast. Going west from Hallmark Park, you will come to the upper entrance to the Sheep Camp Trail at the St. James Road watershed gate.

Entrance to Cross Country Running Course

Foothills Parks Adjoining Southern San Francisco Watershed

Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve

In the foothills west of San Carlos and just north of Edgewood Park is the 293-acre Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District preserve, featuring a broad central meadow flanked by two wooded canyons. Cordilleras Creek originates in the preserve’s canyons and then flows east to the Bay near the end of Whipple Road, picking up volume from the streams in Edgewood Park.

Formerly the site of a tuberculosis hospital owned by the city of San Francisco, the area was purchased by MROSD in 1983. Residents of San Carlos approved a local tax on their assessed valuation to help fund the purchase.

Restoration efforts on this preserve have succeeded in reducing the number of non-native, invasive plant species, particularly eucalyptus, acacia, and broom. Volunteers and the California Conservation Corps worked with District personnel to re-seed several areas with native species to restore them to a more natural state. This project, begun in 1996, is an ongoing, probably 20-year effort.

Jurisdiction: Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District: 650-691-1200

Facilities: Trails for hikers and an off-leash area for dogs; Cordilleras Trail accessible to wheelchairs and hikers (no dogs)

Rules: Open dawn to dusk; dogs allowed on all trails and must be on maximum 6-foot leash, except in designated off-leash areas, where they must be under voice control; owners must clean up after their dogs

Maps: MROSD Pulgas Ridge OSP, USGS topo Woodside

How to Get There: From I-280 take Edgewood Rd. exit east and go 0.75 mile. Turn left on Crestview Dr. and immediately left again on Edmonds Rd. Around first curve, park at roadside turnout.

HIGH MEADOWLANDS LOOP

Hikers and their dogs will sample the best trails in this preserve.

Distance: 3-mile loop

Time: 1½ hours

Elevation Change: 400’ gain

From parking on Edmonds Road, walk through the entrance gate onto the 0.6-mile, fenced Cordilleras Trail on an easement beside the San Francisco Water Department road. This surfaced trail, accessible to wheelchairs, meets the paved service road that rises to the top of the preserve.

However, at this junction an unpaved trail goes right through a little glade on the east side of Cordilleras Creek. Here is a bench, installed by local Boy Scouts, in a willow-shaded clearing. From the bench, hikers can continue on the east side of the creek to the George Seagar Memorial Grove, where a plaque commemorates the first MROSD Ward 7 Director. He was instrumental in preserving this land for open space. Native live oaks, maples, and willows shade the peaceful scene, a pleasant destination for a short trip on a hot day

Returning toward the junction of the Cordilleras Trail, bear right on a small bridge across the creek and head uphill on the Polly Geraci Trail. This trail follows the creek near its west bank and then ascends on switchbacks through an oak forest. Ferns cover the hillside, and shade-loving flowers blossom here in spring. The authors try to visit this trail every spring to see the profusion of small, white, star-shaped blossoms of fetid adders tongue growing beside the trail.

Leaving the creek far below, the trail rounds a ridge where madrones and large, shiny-barked manzanitas appear in a tall chaparral cover. Here is a wooden bench shaded by evergreen oaks facing due north toward the chaparral-covered ridge across the canyon, now part of this preserve. A trail northeast along this ridge will someday join the San Francisco Watershed lands.

Farther along the trail you can look across the headwaters canyon of Cordilleras Creek and in rainy winters see a small waterfall tumbling over its headwall. The trail zigzags west and uphill until it finally breaks out in full chaparral scrub and joins the Hassler Trail at the top of the preserve’s high meadow. Some tall eucalyptus, remnants of the dense forest planted here years ago, still border this trail. If you turn right at this junction, you can walk 0.2 mile uphill to a clearing beside the Caltrans triple-fenced, circular Vista Point rest area.

Graceful ferns on a rotting tree stump in Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve

Returning to the paved Hassler Trail you will see immense oaks filling the deep canyons on the west side of the ridge. The trails planned for this canyon will someday bring a more intimate look at these lush forests.

On the left side of the trail is the site of the former health home, now a sloping meadow, capped by tall eucalyptus—a place to picnic and enjoy the views of San Francisco Bay through a notch in the foothills. South are Edgewood Park’s grasslands and wooded hilltop; west are the forested Santa Cruz Mountains.

Below the meadow is an off-leash dog run fenced with split-rails and circled by a surfaced road. Signs caution both dogs and dog owners to be on their best behavior.

Opposite the dog run and just off the edge of the trail are two large plots of cactus, probably remnants of a garden adjoining the site of the chief doctor’s former home.

As the surfaced Hassler Trail curves left downhill, watch for the Blue Oak Trail on your right. Take this trail down switchbacks through a lovely, mixed oak forest. Look for deep-red Indian Warriors and blue hound’s tongue as early as January— early augurs of spring. This delightful, 0.4-mile trail switchbacks down the canyon passing rivulets edged with moss-covered boulders and trailsides draped with maidenhair fern. A thoughtful Eagle Scout, Daemen Merrill, constructed a bench at a wide spot where you can rest, listen to many bird calls, and observe the differences in oak species. The dominant species is the live oak, Quercus agrifolia. The blue oak, Quercus douglasii, is deciduous, usually a much smaller tree, and has blue-green leaves that are not as prickly as the live oak. It is usually found on dry hillsides.

When the Blue Oak Trail emerges at Edmonds Road, on which you entered the preserve, turn left (northeast) to the parking area.

For a 1.1-mile loop, start from Edmonds Road on the Blue Oak Trail, bear right downhill on the Hassler Trail, and return to your car on the Cordilleras Trail. The shady ascent is just right for a hot day.

Edgewood County Park and Natural Preserve

This San Mateo County park of hilltops, gentle meadows, oak groves, and canyons faces the green expanse of the Skyline ridge to the west and looks out over the Bay to the east. It adjoins Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve just across Edgewood Road and the southern San Francisco Watershed lands across I-280. You can picnic here on a knoll listening to meadowlarks in the grass, climb a hill, or walk in cool, secluded glades.

Edgewood Park’s 467 acres, crowned by a wooded hill rising steeply from the surrounding meadows, had been set aside for a state college. After years of negotiation, the land was finally acquired for a park by San Mateo County and the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District in 1980. The county originally planned a golf course on the park’s grasslands with trails on the periphery, but in 1994 changed plans and declared Edgewood a park and natural preserve.

Implementation of the park’s 1996 master plan is under way: the Friends of Edgewood Natural Preserve lead hikes from March through mid-June; volunteers continue the work of eliminating exotic plants; all trails are in good shape and a new map shows all trails and contour lines; plans for an interpretive center are complete and the site chosen.

From the park’s main entrance on Edgewood Road, more than 7 miles of trail lead through wooded, fern-filled canyons to the rolling grasslands that surround the central wooded ridge. Beyond the entrance near the trailhead are a day camp and an amphitheatre beside Cordilleras Creek. Close by are attractive picnic sites nestled on terraces under the shade of huge oaks and redwoods, open to the public except during summer day-camp. Other entrances also open onto trails that reach flower fields, the wooded hilltop, and the northern canyons of the park.

This is a park for all seasons. Its closeness to the hundreds of thousands who live in neighboring communities makes it a good choice for short outings. In winter, rain-washed air and north winds bring clear views and cold days for brisk hiking. In spring, the meadows underlain with serpentine are thick with goldfields, poppies, cream cups, lupines, and owl’s clover. From March to June, volunteer members of the California Native Plant Society lead free weekend wildflower walks. On summer and fall days, shady oak groves provide good picnicking and inviting walks on the wooded northeast slopes.

Jurisdiction: San Mateo County: 650-363-4020

Facilities: Trails for hikers and equestrians; picnic areas with barbecues, restrooms, day camp, and amphitheatre

Rules: Open from 8 A.M. to sunset; no dogs or bicycles; horses on all trails but Sylvan Loop

Maps: San Mateo County Edgewood Park and USGS topo Woodside

How to Get There: From I-280: (1) Main entrance on Edgewood Rd. at Old Stage Day Camp—Take the Edgewood Rd. exit and go east 1 mile; turn right at Edgewood Park and Day Camp sign, cross bridge to park. Overflow parking uses unpaved area beside Edgewood Rd. (2) West of I-280 on Edgewood Rd—Take Edgewood Rd. exit, go west under freeway. Park on south side of Edgewood Rd. near freeway or at Cañada and Edgewood roads. (3) Cañada Rd—Take Edgewood Rd. exit, go west under freeway, turn south on Cañada Rd., go through freeway underpass and park beside Cañada Rd. opposite PG&E switch-yard. The Clarkia Trail entrance is immediately north of this installation. (4) Sunset Way—Follow directions for (3) above, but continue on Cañada Rd. 1.2 more miles and turn left on Jefferson Ave. Turn left on California Way (not West California Way) and then right on Sunset Way to park entrance at Hillcrest Way. Limited parking beside road.

Delicate fairy lanterns are springtime treats

LOOP TRIP TO THE WOODED HILLTOP THAT CROWNS THIS PARK

Take this trip across the park’s wooded ridge for views over the Santa Cruz Mountains and out to the Bay.

Distance: 5-mile loop

Time: 2½ hours

Elevation Change: 600’ gain

Starting from the Old Stage Day Camp entrance, you enter the park across a narrow old bridge over Cordilleras Creek framed by spreading valley oaks. Just beyond the bridge, a rustic brown sign points to Old Stage Road, a section of a mid-1800s route to lumber mills and camps in Woodside. Ahead are the parking area and the trailheads for the Edgewood and Sylvan trails. Near this entrance too, will be the new interpretive center.

Start uphill on the Edgewood Trail to the right of the parking area on switchbacks that take you up the north side of a steep canyon. Shading your way are woods of buckeye, madrone, and oak, with an understory of toyon, snowberry, and poison oak.

Skirting a sloping meadow accented by immense spreading oaks, you continue uphill, crossing a service road to stay on the shady, tree-lined Edgewood Trail. At the next junction take the Franciscan Trail to your left. Now you traverse the steep canyon’s rim and look across it to the southern San Francisco Bay and the East Bay hills. From a rocky outcrop beside the trail you can see into the canyon where once stood a Victorian house, part of the 1915 San Francisco Panama Pacific Exposition. It was disassembled and barged down to Redwood City, then reassembled on this site. Only the foundations of the house and vestiges of the garden walls remain today, artfully used to support terraced areas of the day-camp and picnic areas.

Continue around the hillside on the Franciscan Trail to its intersection with the Sylvan Trail. If you turn left here, you will return to the park entrance and make this a 1+ mile loop trip. But if you stay on the Franciscan Trail, you first cross a high grassy plateau, and then take the Serpentine Loop Trail left, pass another Sylvan Trail turnoff on the left. Hidden in the tall grasses are the homes of gophers, field mice, and other rodents that make up the diet of the hawks you may see soaring overhead.

From the Serpentine Trail looking over Redwood City to the Bay

After the second Sylvan Trail junction, you round two bends, leave the Serpentine Trail, and turn right onto the Live Oak Trail. Under a canopy of live oaks and buckeyes you soon come to a fork in the trail. Take the right-hand fork and walk over the wooded crown of this hill and out into the chaparral. From a wide clearing, views stretch up and down along fifty miles of the San Andreas Rift Zone. Looking northwest you see a vista relatively unchanged from early times (disregarding the multi-laned concrete ribbon by which you reached this idyllic spot). In San Francisco Watershed lands you see thousands of acres of unbroken forests, from the Skyline ridge to the lakes along the fault line.

To continue on your trip, follow the Ridgeview Loop Trail around the hill, bearing left at two trail intersections. Then, contouring around the south side of the hill, you look down on the serpentine grasslands, aglow with dazzling wildflower displays in spring.

At a saddle on the ridge you complete the Ridgeview Loop. Walk left on the Live Oak Trail for another 500 feet and turn left onto the Serpentine Trail at the junction where you left it. Along this short stretch of trail look for clumps of the low-growing blue-eyed grass and drifts of clarkia that bloom from early spring into summer.

Almost 3 miles from the beginning of your trip, you come to the Sylvan Trail on your right. Take it for a different way back. Around wide switchbacks you descend deep into a canyon. A spring high up the headwall feeds a perennial stream, which you cross and then follow along its fern-covered banks.

Emerging from the canyon, you pass the other leg of the Sylvan Trail on your left. Go straight ahead and downhill for 0.2 mile. Then pass to the right of the Old Stage Day Camp or take the left-hand trail, which curves around the camp’s picnic tables and barbecues on the landscaped borders of Cordilleras Creek. The park entrance is just beyond the day camp.

For a shorter route to the park’s central ridge, take the Edgewood Trail from the parking area at Edgewood and Cañada roads on the west side of I-280. This trail runs through a corridor paralleling the south side of Edgewood Road. It goes around a fenced-off, large meadow, and leads to a passageway under the freeway. After going through the passage, continue to a kiosk that displays maps, photos and current news about the preserve and volunteer work opportunities. Turn left on the Serpentine Loop and in 200 feet turn right on the Franciscan Trail, which you follow to the Ridgeview Loop. Turn either left or right to circle the hilltop. This makes a 2.75-mile loop trip with an elevation gain of 430’.