Yesterday, May 8, was a wonderful day to head to the Skyline Ridge area to enjoy sweeping views and lots of wildflowers. Students from my De Anza College class, plus my sister, who is visiting from Oregon, met at the Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve parking lot. We visited two ponds, two ridgetops, and saw one of the best ancient Ohlone grinding rocks in the Bay Area.
To do this hike, park at the main parking lot off of Skyline Blvd. Then charge uphill and follow the Ridge Trail, past spectacular views, to Alpine Pond. Just downhill from the earthen dam is the Indian grinding rock. Then cross Alpine Road and up Russian Ridge to Borel Hill, which is the highest point in San Mateo County. From here, on a clear day, you can see all the way to Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, San Francisco, the bay, all the cities on both sides of the bay, and the ocean.
Russian Ridge is one of the best places in the Bay Area to see wildflowers. They peak in the first two weeks in May. Wildflowers are so prolific here because MPROSD conducts a controlled burn every summer to burn off the non-native grasses and star thistle.
Then head back to Alpine Pond, loop around the pond, and stop at the Daniels Nature Center if it is open. Then head back toward the starting point, but take the extra loop around Horseshoe Lake before heading back to the parking lot. You can see all this in a hike that is only about six miles.
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