A Downhill Hike at Windy Hill Open Space

Last Saturday, the final field trip for my Foothill College hiking class, we let gravity do most of the work by starting at the Skyline Boulevard (uphill) end of the preserve and dropped 1,500 feet downhill for 5 miles to the Portola Road (downhill) entrance. Because a loop hike would be 8.9 miles, and I limit my field trips to a maximum of 6 miles, this preserve only works with a car shuttle.

We gathered at the Windy Hill parking lot on Portola Road in Portola Valley, next to The Sequoias retirement home. From there we carpooled north on Portola Road, west on Highway 84, and south on Skyline Boulevard, to the Windy Hill parking lot. We started out with a .7 mile side trip to the 1,800 foot summit of Windy Hill to enjoy magnificent views of the Bay Area and the Ocean. A wild fuchsia was in bloom on the summit.

From there it was all downhill. We paused to admire some huge Douglas fir trees with giant limbs straining and twisting their way toward sunlight. We also stopped to look at bright red toyon berries, madrone berries, lichen on oak trees, and oak galls. Best of all were the bright yellow leaves of the big leaf maple, in full fall fo

liage. At the end of our ramble we passed Sausal Pond, which is a sag pond formed along the San Andreas Fault.

TO GET THERE... From Highway 280 take Alpine Road or Sand Hill Road to Portola Road in the town of Portola Valley. There is also an entrance on Skyline Boulevard 2.3 miles south of Highway 84, and 4.9 miles north of Page Mill Road.