portola Valley Trails

Portola Valley is an affluent community with a wonderful trail system that combines residential and wild land areas. On and near the San Andreas Fault, this land is a pleasant patchwork of woodlands and grassy meadows. It is particularly enticing in the Spring when the grasses are green and the wildflowers are in bloom. This land is forested mainly with oak, madrone, and bay.

On Saturday, May 21, I lead my CSM class on a field trip that started at the parking lot along Alpine Road at the intersection of Willowbrook. We combined the Old Spanish Trail with the Toyon Trail. We stopped for lunch at the large sag pond, on a main fracture of the San Andreas Fault, at the intersection of the Old Spanish Trail and the Lake Trail. Because of the cool, moist Spring, we saw many wildflowers, including columbine, flax, blue dick, globe lilly, winecup clarkia, and one beautiful spotted coral root orchid (see photo). Our route covered about 5.5 miles.

TO GET THERE... From Highway 280 take Alpine Road south and park near its intersection with Willowbrook Drive.