Long Ridge Open Space Loop

Yesterday was the final field trip for the fall session of my Foothill College hiking class. We met at the Grizzly Flat entrance to Long Ridge Open Space Preserve, which is along Skyline Boulevard about 3 miles south of the intersection with Page Mill/Alpine Road and about 3 miles north of the intersection with Highway 9. I arrived early and stood by the road so that the students would know where to park. The day was chilly but mostly sunny.

Our 4.9-mile loop took us downhill from Grizzly Flat, stopping to examine an abandoned apple orchard that was planted more than a hundred years ago. The trees still bear fruit, but they have all been picked by now. It is best to pick the fruit in early October. We then followed the Peters Creek Trail, which is on the bed of the old Summit Road. This route was constructed in the nineteenth century, long before Skyline Boulevard was built in the 1920's.

We next paused to enjoy a beautiful pond, which is just beyond the preserve boundary in the Jikoji Zen Center property. The pond was created in the early 1960's. This land hosted Pacific High School beginning in 1965. Students built their own residences, including tee pees and geodesic domes.

After a short stop to examine the pond, we charged uphill to the Long Ridge Road trail on the ridge top. We enjoyed beautiful views into the Pescadero Creek watershed and all the way to the blue Pacific beyond. Our group arrived at the Wallace Stegner Bench just in time for lunch. This is a very scenic spot for lunch. In addition to sweeping views, it is also a place to appreciate the contribution author and historian Wallace Stegner made to the preservation of wild lands. In addition to writing fiction and non-fiction about the American West, Stegner was an active conservationist, who was assistant to the secretary of interior during the Kennedy administration. He was instrumental in the formulation of the Wilderness Act of 1964. He also helped to found the Committee for Green Foothills, which lead to the creation of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.

After lunch we sampled brownies made from the roasted nut of the bay laurel tree. We completed the loop by taking the Long Ridge Trail to the Peters Creek Trail and back to Grizzly Flat.

TO GET THERE... The Grizzly Flat parking lot is along Skyline Boulevard about 3 miles south of Page Mill/Alpine Road and 3 miles north of Highway 9. There is a small sign that says Upper Stevens Creek County Park. A Palo Alto City Limits sign faces north bound traffic on Skyline Boulevard.