The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District has done an extraordinary job of cleaning up the old Cold War era air force station atop Mount Umunhum and making the 3,486 foot summit accessible. You can drive to near the top of the mountain, but I think it is more fun to hike the 3.7 mile (one way) scenic Mt. Umunhum Trail from the Bald Mountain parking lot along Mount Umunhum Road.
Along the Mt. Umunhum Trail there are lots of beautiful views. Vegetation includes wild fushsia, bay laurel, wild nutmeg, madrone, gray pine, and manzanita.
From atop the peak on a clear day you will enjoy spectacular views of the Santa Clara Valley and the bay to the east, San Francisco and Mount Tamalpais to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and Monterey Bay and the Santa Lucia Range to the south.
In ancient times the Ohlone revered the top of the mountain. Umunhum is an Ohlone word that means "resting place of the hummingbirds".
In 1957 the summit was occupied by the Almaden Air Force Station (1957-1980), one of the dozens of radar stations operating along the West Coast during the Cold War. The big concrete cubicle was once the base of a big antenna.
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