Skyline Ridge Open Space Figure-8 Ramble

Yesterday was a good day to lead my College of San Mateo class field trip at Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve. The weather was sunny and mild, though the coastal fog to the west obscured some of the best views this preserve has to offer.

Starting at the main parking lot, which is just west of Skyline Boulevard about a mile south of the Page Mill/Alpine Road intersection, we charged uphill on the Ridge Trail and continued on, past Rattlesnake Point, to Alpine Pond. Near the pond we examined a bedrock mortar stone where Ohlone Indian women pounded their acorns centuries ago. We looped around the pond, looked at natural history exhibits at the David C. Daniels Nature Center next to the pond, and then stopped for lunch at the nearby picnic tables.

After lunch we visited the cluster of buildings that are now used for MPROSD maintenance. In the early 1930's this was the vacation retreat for California governor James "Sunny Jim" Rolph. Nearby is a dead Douglas fir tree which is home to a lively colony of acorn woodpeckers. They are now busy collecting acorns and fitting them into holes they made in their granary tree for later consumption.

We then made a steep ascent up the ridge and descended downhill to Horseshoe Lake. On the way we saw the feral Christmas trees that were not chosen decades ago when this land was a Christmas tree farm. Both Alpine Pond and Horseshoe Lake were created in the 1950's to provide water for John Rickey's hog farm. We then looped around the reservoir and back to our starting point, for a figure-8 loop of about 4.5 miles.

TO GET THERE... The main entrance is on Skyline Boulevard about a mile south of the intersection with Page Mill/Alpine Roads. There is one parking lot each for equestrians, handicapped, and all others. You can also access the preserve from the Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve parking lot on Alpine Road just west of its intersection with Skyline Boulevard. Take the trail through the tunnel under Alpine Road south from the parking lot.