Peninsula Trails. Jean Rusmore
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