Peninsula Trails. Jean Rusmore
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