The Stanford Dish hike we did last year is the only exception to this otherwise 100% dog friendly hiking blog. I hope this particular hike will make acceptable amends to that exception. Located in the same neighborhood, Matadero Creek trail is an easement in the "academic reserve" of Stanford that is open to the public to enjoy the panoramic views of the hills around Page Mill Rd and Hwy 280.
Matadero Creek trail is a paved, blacktop, multi-use trail from Foothill Expwy & Page Mill Rd to Deer Creek Rd. And from Deer Creek Rd to Arastradero Rd, the single track dirt trail is open only to pedestrians. Street side parking is available on Coyote Hill Rd off Page Mill Rd.
We started our hike catching the trail at the intersection of Coyote Hill Rd & Page Mill Rd. The blacktop trail essentially borders Page Mill Rd until Deer Creek Rd, offering excellent views all around, including Stanford University on the right.
The dirt trail segment beyond Deer Creek Rd passes by a horse stable and climbs its way through rolling green hills. Over the next 1/2 mile, the trail gains about 400 feet in elevation. I noticed a Great Blue Heron making an unusual stop by the hills, not where one would normally expect to find these beautiful birds.
You will also get to see Hwy 280 from a different perspective both to the north and south as you hike this trail. Over the second half, the trail gives up the elevation as quickly as it gained it by the time it reaches Arastradero Rd.
We turned left here and continued our walk by the paved, muti-use trail that runs by Arastradero Rd all the way until Foothill Expwy. The trail crosses Deer Creek Rd and passes by Vmware offices on the left before it eventually reaches Foothill Expwy.
The entrance to Bol Park Bike Path is from Miranda Rd, just north of Foothill Expwy. Heading in a north westerly direction, this trail passes Gunn High School on the right, VA Hospital on the left, crosses Barrons Creek and Matadero Creek before reaching the Bol Park, a nice neighborhood park in Palo Alto.
Laguna Ave offers an alternative spot to park and do the hike described here. The dirt trail through the park passes right by Matadero Creek. It is possible to get down to the creek if you are so inclined.
Leaving the park behind, we were back on the bike path that ends just ahead making a sharp turn at Hanover St. The next mile or so is somewhat nondescript, where we used the sidewalk on Hanover St, Porter Dr and Page Mill Rd, passing by the offices of HP, Lockheed Martin and few other tech companies before reaching Foothill Expwy.
We wrapped up our 5.8 mile hike walking the short stretch of Matadero Creek trail from here until Coyote Hill Rd. Predominantly exposed, this is not a hike for hot days.
More photos from our hike.
#Hiking #HikingWithDogs #MataderoCreekTrail #BolParkBikePath
Mt. Madonna County Park is a scenic park located in the beautiful Santa Cruz mountains, about 10 miles west of Gilroy by Hwy 152. We used the Sprig Day Use Area as the staging area for our hike today. It is easy to miss the sign board on the winding mountain road; if you are traveling west on Hwy 152 from Gilroy, Spring Day Use Area is 3.4 miles west of Gilroy Gardens on Hwy 152.
Take a moment also to familiarize yourself with trail closures in the park as part of ongoing improvements in progress. The hike featured in this blog is not impacted by any work planned as part of the improvements to the trails this year.
We started our hike on Merry Go Round (MGR) trail. The trail head can be accessed from the horse & trailer parking area, across a bridge from where other automobiles are required to park. The wide dirt trail runs parallel to a creek for a while.
We stayed of MGR trail at the first junction with Ridge trail. From here, the trail starts ascending gradually over the next mile. Initially, the trail goes through heavy oak woodlands. Soon, it emerges out of the woods and starts alternating between redwood canopies and open spaces bordered by green hilltops.
After gaining more than 600 feet over a mile, the trail passes through a level area in a meadow with sweeping views all around. Perfect spring hiking conditions with bright sunshine made the views all the impressive!
There is a 1/2 mile out & back side trip possible to a lookout point by Old Mine trail. Apollo & I did that, enjoying the scenic Santa Cruz mountains. If you do take this side trip, you will hopefully be able to enjoy the sights of a lake sitting amidst rolling green hills.
We were back on MGR trail which started climbing up once again after staying level for a brief while. Those intending to do a shorter loop with less climbing will have the option of taking Tie Camp trail. We continued up on MGR trail for another 1/2 mile and turned left on Loop trail.
Staying on Loop trail just briefly, we turned right on Loop Cut-off trail, all the while climbing steadily until we reached Miller House ruins. Home of Henry Miller in late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, we spent a while looking over this historic piece of information on the park.
There is a nature trail that goes around here as well as Upper and Lower Miller trails running quite close to each other around the Miller ruins. There are multiple options to connect back to Loop trail, we used Lower Miller trail to do it after walking around the nature trail.
At the next junction, we took Ridge trail and pretty much stayed on Ridge trail all the way until it connected back to MGR trail near the trail head. However, Ridge trail does exhibit very different characteristics in the three segments we walked in it.
A gravel trail that possibly accommodated vehicular traffic in the past during the days of lumbering, the trail descends gradually, passing through redwood groves and occasional eucalyptus trees before coming up on Contour trail junction. It stays kind of similar in the next stretch where Ridge trail hits Tie Camp trail.
The last 1/2 mile by Ridge trail after Tie Camp trail junction is a veritable treat of Santa Cruz mountain range as well a distant peak that I don't know the name of. We wrapped up our hike, connecting back to MGR trail and reaching the trail head.
Our 6 mile hike involved climbing nearly 1400 feet. When the park re-opens Blackhawk trail, we most certainly will be back to hike that, creating a loop with Sprig trail from the same staging area.
More photos from our hike.
#Hiking #HikingWithDogs #MtMadonnaCountyPark #MtMadonnaPark #MillerHouseRuins
It may be winter, but the last several days had been feeling like warm spring days. I decided to do a dawn hike by the Bay in a segment that Apollo had not gone to and be able to see the sunrise. Redwood Shores provided the perfect setting for us. I had covered this on Day 6 of my SF Bay Walkabout last year.
I had parked by Mariner Park, at Redwood Shores Pkwy / Bridge Pkwy intersection off Hwy 101. We were at the park about half hour before the sunrise. The Bay Trail runs right behind the park, following Steinberger Slough all the way to Radio Point. On the other side of the trail is a residential community, pretty much all the way.
The first half hour of our walk was in early morning light. The trail runs in a north easterly direction, which meant dawn was breaking on our right. Well before the sun came out, the sky had an orange hue in the east. As the sun continued to come up, the dark orange hue was progressively becoming bright yellowing orange in color.
The gravel & dirt trail runs about two miles before coming to a dog park on the left. Just as we reached the spot, the sun had also emerged from behind the mountains on the east side of the bay. And the temperatures popped couple of degrees just like that!
Apollo had his customary break at the dog park, making new friends and playing chase with the three dogs in the park bright and early. We continued ahead by the dirt trail, but the trail is closed little ahead as the area is considered a sensitive habitat.
We walked back, took Radio Rd that borders the dog park and a water treatment plant. At the end of Radio Rd, we connected back to the paved, blacktop Bay trail. Staying close to the bay, the trail leads to a large observation deck. The high rise segment of San Mateo bridge was visible clearly, as was the Bird Island (a closed environmentally sensitive preserve) from the deck.
With an intent to cover the entire Redwood Shores peninsula, we stayed in the Bay trail. For a while, the trail runs parallel to Seabrook Ct before it turns south. In the marshland on the right, I spotted a beautiful black-crowned night heron and a great egret.
As the trail curved around, I stayed by the artificial lagoon and turned right on Shearwater Pkwy connecting back to the bay trail after the elementary school. You can choose to stay right by the bay instead of doing what I did. But then, I wouldn't have gotten to see yet another beautiful great egret in the lagoon waters.
The trail starts running by Belmont slough on the right leaving the bay behind. At Bridge Pkwy, continue the hike by a rugged dirt trail running through slough for a short while before connecting back to the paved trail. Ahead, you can see the iconic buildings of Oracle Corp.
To wrap up our walk, we left the bay trail when Bridge Pkwy turns left. And used the sidewalk to walk across to Mariner Park passing by the public library first, a unique foot bridge on Bridge Pkwy and Mistral Restaurant, a favorite among tech companies in this area.
The sidewalk on the left (against the traffic) is shaded and nice, something that was welcome to us even though it was barely 9 am on a winter morning! And Apollo was glad to roll around the wet and lush green grass in Mariner Park to cool off a tad.
We covered the entire Redwood Shores peninsula in our leisurely 6.5 mile dawn hike. I also managed to cover sections that I missed during my previous solo walk here on day 6 of the SF Bay Walkabout.
More pictures from our hike.
#Hiking #HikingWithDogs #SFBayTrail #SFBayTrailRedwoodShores
For our second outing at Las Trampas Regional Wilderness, we used the Ringtail Cat Staging Area in the unincorporated town of Alamo bordering Danville. This staging area is located at the very end of Hemme Ave, off Danville Blvd, accessible taking El Cerro Blvd exit from Hwy 680.
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| Mt. Diablo |
The first time we hiked this park in early December, it was a completely foggy day. In contrast, today was a perfect spring hiking experience: mid-50s cool start, warm sunshine amidst high clouds for much of the hike, green rolling hills and excellent visibility to view Mt. Diablo and the valley below to my hearts content.
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| Ringtail Cat trail |
We started our hike by Ringtail Cat trail that runs parallel to a creek for a while. The single track dirt trail doesn't get much sunlight and the ground was damp from the rains even though it's been dry for more than a week now. Ringtail Cat trail is about a mile long and for a third of that, the trail runs by the creek.
Making a sharp turn, the trail starts ascending steeply as soon as it leaves the creek behind. In the remaining two-thirds of a mile, the trail gains more than 700 feet! Half way, the single track makes way a wider trail as the grade eases.
By the time Ringtail Cat trail connects to Madrone trail, the grade is definitely easier. We turned right on Madrone trail, enjoying the meadows and open space. We spotted a small herd of cattle enjoying the lush green grass. I haven't normally come across a bull, but I did today. Apollo, who had been off leash for a while, had to go back on leash as we passed the bull, couple of young calves and several cows.
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| Madrone trail |
Madrone trail is a long two mile hike to the next junction. The extremely wide dirt trail makes its way through predominantly oak woodlands, descending couple of hundred feet and crossing the creek before starting to ascend again. If you are lucky, you might get to see a mini-waterfall in the creek on your left.
There is a scenic vista point where Madrone trail meets Las Trampas Ridge trail. And a bench to sit, catch your breath, take a water break as well as enjoy the scenery. The ascend by the ridge trail will continue to put you through your paces as it comes to the land bank through which the trail passes.
The green rolling hills and sweeping views over the next half mile will easily make you forget that you are continuing your climb towards the highest point of the days hike. I must admit that the 360⁰ views from this stretch today is one of the best I've experienced.
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| Las Trampas Ridge trail |
Apollo and I also made the brief side trip to Las Trampas peak, standing tall at 1827 ft. four miles into our hike. We continued by the ridge trail, now back within the East Bay park boundaries and enjoying the great views of the valley on either side from the ridge top.
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| Corduroy Hills trail |
At its intersection with Bollinger Creek Loop trail, we stayed on Las Trampas Ridge trail, now a narrow single track trail. Continuing to go up and down the ridge, sometimes going through heavily wooden sections, we were on the ridge trail until it came to the Corduroy Hills trail junction.
Corduroy Hills trail is one of the best segments this wilderness park has to offer. Open for only hikers, the trail has three distinct characteristics. The first stretch is a narrow trail, making its way through a rocky zone. Apollo had come back on leash for this section, but at multiple places, I had to scramble, both of us fending for ourselves! The high point in this stretch was passing through an interesting rock formation by Eagle peak (1720 ft.)
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| Corduroy Hills trail |
Continuing to remain a single track trail, Corduroy Hills trail passes through meadows, open spaces and woodlands next. I noticed bike tracks at multiple points. Whoever biked Corduroy Hills trail is more a fanatic, well beyond the serious mountain biker category.
And for the final stretch, Corduroy Hills trail becomes a tame and wide double track trail. After passing Eagle peak, the hike is predominantly a descend. We turned left at the Madrone trail junction, completing a six mile loop by the time we reached the Ringtail Cat trail.
We wrapped up our hike by continuing the descend on Ringtail Cat trail. Adding the two miles on this trail, we ended up hiking 8 miles today, ascending about 2000 ft overall. Anyone with a good level of fitness would surely enjoy this hike, one of the best we've done.
More pictures from our hike.
#Hiking #HikingWithDogs #LasTrampas #LasTrampasRegionalWilderness #LasTrampasPeak #EBRPD
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| Belgatos Park |
Heintz and Santa Rosa Open Spaces are maintained by the town of Los Gatos. The trails within these open spaces can be accessed from Belgatos Park, a nice neighborhood park at the end of Belgatos Rd in Los Gatos, off Blossom Hill Rd. Parking is available at Belgatos Park.
The trails in these open spaces are interconnected, although forming a good hiking loop is not easy, unless you are open to walking by the neighborhood streets. Not necessarily wanting to do that, Apollo and I walked the length and breadth of both open spaces which amounted to an out & back hike except for a mini-loop I was able to fit in.
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| Santa Rosa trail |
Santa Rosa Open Space is right behind Belgatos Park. The Ridge trail as well as a fire road will lead you to Santa Rosa trail from the parking lot. We started our hike by Santa Rosa trail which runs from Belgatos Park to Santa Rosa Dr, a distance of about 3/4 mile.
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| Sky trail |
The wide dirt trail winds up gradually, first comes to an intersection marked Shannon Rd. We kept right at this junction and reached the Valley View/Sky trail junction next. Valley View trail runs from this junction to Regent Dr, a distance of about a mile and a quarter. We stayed on Sky trail on the way forward and returned by Valley View trail to do the mini-loop I alluded to.
Sky trail passes a open space with a picnic bench on the left that offers excellent views of the valley. The short trail joins back Valley View trail around the mile mark of our hike. This uphill stretch involved climbing about 500 feet.
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| Valley View trail |
From here, Valley View trail descends gently over the next 3/4 mile to the entrance by Regent Dr. Before turning back from here, we also hiked the Vista trail, little more than half a mile out and back. Vista trail does offer some nice views from the top, but I felt that other spots in the park bettered those.
We walked the entire stretch of Valley View trail on the way back. In this stretch, there are couple of excellent views of the valley, just as the trail's name indicates, including a spot with a park bench overlooking the valley.
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| Ridge trail |
Back on Santa Rosa trail, we also hiked the 1/2 mile to Santa Rosa Dr. And walked the entire stretch of this trail, back to Belgatos Park. And to wrap up our hike, we also walked the Ridge trail that runs from the parking lot to Harwood Ct, yet another out and back exercise.
As you probably observe, the trails are all somewhat short, but covering the entire park, our hike ended up a respectable 5+ miler with about 1100 feet of climbing. There are no printed maps available. You can print one from here if you want.
More pictures from the hike.
#Hiking #HikingWithDogs #BelgatosPark #HeintzOpenSpace #SantaRosaOpenSpace
