Santa Cruz Mountains Trails: Tarwater Loop Trail at Pescadero Creek County Park

I lead my College of San Mateo class on a wonderful 5.4 mile loop in Pescadero Creek County Park yesterday. We met at the parking lot at the town hall in Woodside to carpool. From there we drove uphill on Highway 84 to Skylonda, turned south on Skyline Boulevard and west on Alpine Road. We continued on Alpine Road past the turnoff to Portola State Park and headed south on Camp Pomponio Road, which can be easily missed. Look for the sign that says "Pescadero Creek County Park 7546 Alpine Road". Continue south on the narrow one-lane paved road until you reach the parking lot on the left. Pescadero Creek County Park is the largest County Park in San Mateo County, but it is not heavily used because the entrances are rather obscure.

From the Tarwater trailhead we headed downhill (south) on the Tarwater Trail. It passes a huge ancient redwood tree that I have measured at 15.5 feet in diameter. Look up the enormous trunk to see a grove of reiterations high above. We continued downhill and paused at the site of the Moore, Fisher & Troupe lumber mill, where there is a large abandoned iron boiler used for powering the saw that cut railroad ties. It was established in 1915.

From where the trail meets a dirt road we continued south on the Bridge Trail, which crosses Pescadero Creek. We stopped for lunch on the south side of Pescadero Creek, which is the biggest creek in San Mateo County. We saw a large crawdad in the creek.

After lunch we headed back up the Bridge Trail and turned west on the Pomponio Trail, which connects with the Camp Pomponio Road. We walked west a short distance on that road to the continuation of the Tarwater Trail Loop. From there it is a long uphill hike along Tarwater Creek. We took a short detour to see a tar seep that gives the creek its name. This route climbs above the redwoods and into an oak woodland and grassland where an old dairy barn still stands.