Bald
Knob Trail,
Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve,
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District,
San Mateo County
In brief:
3.6 mile out and back in a quiet part of a preserve dominated by woodsy canyons.
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.
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.
Gas, food, and lodging:
None in the immediate area. No camping.
Rules:
Most trails are multi-use. A few trails are open to hikers only. Dogs are not
permitted in the preserve.
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.
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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