Thornewood Open Space Preserve 2015-07-02

Thornewood Open Space Preserve is one of the smaller Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District preserves. Apollo and I barely managed 4 miles today in this compact preserve off Hwy 84 (La Honda Road) in Woodside. Like the previous MROSD preserve we hiked at, Coal Creek Open Space Preserve, Thornewood is also easy to miss. The entrance to the preserve from the winding La Honda Rd is about 1.5 miles from the Portola Rd intersection. The entrance is marked by a red brick wall with a 0.1-mile paved blacktop road leading you to the parking lot.

Schilling Lake Trail

This may be a small preserve, but don't let that stop you from visiting this beautiful place. From the parking lot, the only option is to take the Schilling Lake Trail. Three-quarters of a mile of the winding, single-track trail will take you to Schilling Lake, an eco-sensitive pond. Be warned, though - the pond is covered with algae and does not make a fine sight!

Bridle Trail

From there, we headed back and turned right onto Bridle Trail. Bridle Trail is also three-quarters of a mile long, descending some 500 feet before it reaches Martin Creek. This is a magnificent segment, winding down through a forest of majestic redwood trees. 

Old La Honda Rd entrance

I happened to meet another ranger and had another great conversation about open spaces managed by MROSD. Every time I've conversed with a ranger, I've learned something new. The ranger mentioned that there is an unofficial trail that runs by the creek to Schilling Lake. And that it is all right for hikers to use it and explore the preserve! 

Trail by Martin Creek

From where Bridle Trail meets the creek, the trail goes forward another quarter mile or so to Old La Honda Road where there is space to park a few cars and enter this preserve. On the way back, I took the ranger's suggestion and went by the unofficial trail by the creek. It was remarkably scenic and very rugged. There were probably half a dozen places where trees had fallen and we had to either jump over or crawl under narrow gaps. At couple of spots, it made sense for Apollo to go under the fallen trees while I had to jump over.

Schilling Lake

Taking this road less traveled got us back to Schilling Lake and created a loop instead of an out and back hike on Bridle Trail.

It was another warm summer day, but we didn't feel a thing in this heavily wooded preserve. From Schilling Lake, we retraced our steps back by the Schilling Lake Trail to the parking lot. Our 3.7 mile hike took us about an hour and ten minutes. 

More pictures from our hike today.
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