Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve,
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District,
San Mateo County
3.6 mile out and back in a quiet part of a preserve dominated by woodsy canyons.
Distance, category, and difficulty:
This is an easy 3.6 mile out and back hike, with about 400 feet in elevation change. Trailhead elevation is about 1500 feet. The featured hike's high point is about 1900 feet. Trails are well graded.
Exposure:
Mix of shade and sun.
Trail traffic:
Light.
Trail surfaces:
Dirt trails and fire roads.
Hiking time:
2 hours.
Season:
Nice any time.
Getting there:
From CA 92 in San Mateo County, turn south on CA 35 (Skyline Boulevard). Drive about 6.5 miles, and turn right (west) onto Tunitas Creek Road. Drive carefully on this narrow road, about 2 miles to the open space gate on the right side of the road.
GPS Coordinates* for Trailhead:
Latitude
Longitude
(* based on Google Earth data, shown as degrees, minutes, seconds)
Gas, food, and lodging:
None in the immediate area. No camping.
Trailhead details:
Very limited roadside parking. Room for 2 cars just before the gate, and one other vehicle across the road. More roadside parking in a pullout back toward Skyline Boulevard, about 0.3 mile from the trailhead. Do not block the gate, or obstruct entry to adjacent private property. No entrance or parking fees. No restrooms. No maps (you can stop at the main preserve trailhead on Skyline Boulevard and pick up a map). There is no direct public transportation to this preseve.
Rules:
Most trails are multi-use. A few trails are open to hikers only. Dogs are not permitted in the preserve.
The Official Story:
MROSD's Purisima page.
MROSD field office 650-691-1200
Map Choices:
• Map from MROSD (download pdf).
•
Peninsula
Tales and Trails, by David Weintraub (order
this book from Amazon.com) has an overview of the preserve, descriptions
of hikes, and simple maps. • Afoot and Afield: San Francisco Bay Area, by David Weintraub (order this book from Amazon.com) has a great map and descriptions of a Purisima Creek hike.
• Peninsula Trails, by Jean Rusmore, has a simple map and descriptions of a hike to Bald Knob (order this book from Amazon.com).
• The Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Book, by Tom Taber, has a simple map (order this book from Amazon.com).
• View 32 photos from this hike.
Purisima
Creek Redwood's 481 acre Bald Knob parcel was 
purchased
by POST in 1993, and transferred to MROSD in 1997. Bald Knob Trail, built
from 1994-96, offers hiking-only access through very quiet forested hillsides,
and features fantastic views southwest to the ocean. The sole drawback
of the hike is the difficult parking on Tunitas Creek Road. Another option
is to park at the trailhead on Higgins Canyon Road and hike uphill on
Borden Hatch Mill Trail or Grabtown Gulch Trail. Those options add significant
mileage to the featured hike and begin at a lower elevation (500 feet
instead of 1700 feet).
Start at the open space gate on Tunitas
Creek Road. Wide Grabtown Gulch Trail, open to equestrians, hikers,
and cyclists, sets out under tanoak and Douglas fir. Huckleberry, snowberry,
and currant may be glimpsed along the trail. After passing private
property on the left, the trail descends gently to a signed junction at
about 0.3 mile. Grabtown Gulch's downhill progress is stopped by MROSD
barricades, due to the missing bridge at Purisima Creek. Turn left
onto Borden Hatch Mill Trail.
The multi-use fire road begins a drop to
Purisima Creek, but you turn left off Borden Hatch Mill Trail at about
0.5 mile, at a signed junction with Bald Knob Trail. Narrow Bald Knob
Trail, open to hikers only, winds through a deep redwood forest, lush
with ferns. Watch your step for banana slugs, particularly in autumn and
winter. The trail edges close to Tunitas Creek Road, and traffic noise
may be evident. Then Bald Knob Trail switchbacks easily uphill, through
tanoak, madrone, Douglas fir, and redwood. Huckleberry shrubs are common,
but you may also see the red berries 
of
honeysuckle vines dangling from tree branches in autumn. Ignore an obvious
routing of a trail that climbs straight toward the top of Bald Knob (which
is privately owned), and remain on the path, which skirts the hilltop.
As Bald Knob Trail crosses over from the north slope of its namesake hill,
madrones bask in the drier southern exposure. Somewhat abruptly, the trail
levels out, passes under a beautiful coast live oak, and steps out into
chaparral. Clear views downhill are somewhat blocked by Douglas fir, but
through the trees on a clear day you can see foamy ocean waves. Poison
oak, California coffeeberry, yerba santa, monkeyflower, and coyote brush
sprawl across the hillside. A downed tree on the side of the trail makes
a nice rest bench. Bald Knob Trail heads back into the woods, passing
through a narrow rocky stretch, with a steep 
dropoff
on the left. Tanoaks and Douglas firs are common, but manzanitas begin
to infiltrate the woods. The trail winds through a dense forest of golden
chinquapin, then reaches a signed junction at about 1.8 miles. This is
a quiet spot. I stood for a few minutes on a chilly autumn morning hidden
under the chinquapins, listening to two crows call back and forth to each
other. Their aural communication displayed astonishing ranges of emotional
content (at least that's how it seemed); alternately mournful, urgent,
and needy. From here, you can continue to the left on Irish Ridge Trail,
which heads downhill to the south. After 1.2 miles, you'll reach the junction
with Lobitos Creek Trail, a logical turnaround point (although you can
press on to the end of the trail at the preserve boundary, another mile
or so). Retrace your steps to the trailhead.
Total distance: about 3.6 miles
Last hiked: Friday, November 10, 2000
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