Peninsula Trails. Jean Rusmore
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