A pleasant hike through varied terrain up to Black Mountain that offers panoramic valley views.

Location: Monte Bello Open Space Preserve

» Official Trail Map: Good quality map showing various trails.

» South Skyline Regional Map by MROSD: Awesome map showing many parks managed by MROSD (Mid-Peninsula Regional Open Space Destrict). Long, interesting routes going through multiple parks can be chalked out using this map.

» Redwoodhikes Trail Map: Great map showing many parks like Purisima Creek, Huddart, Wunderlich, El Corte De Madera, Foothills, Hidden Villa and Rancho San Antonio. Trail maps for individual parks are available online for free. However, the RedwoodHikes map shows the big picture and is helpful for planning hikes that go through multiple parks.

White Oak Trail is shaded and cool throughout the year. The rest of the hike is unshaded.

1. To Black Mountain: White Oak Trail (0.3 + 1.2 + 0.3 + 0.6 miles) → Canyon Trail (0.2 miles) → Indian Creek Trail (1.0 + 0.2 miles) → Monte Bello Rd (0.2+ 0.2 miles) to reach Black Mountain.
2. Atop Black Mountain: There is a short 0.3 mile loop along an unnamed trail which provides vistas of Silicon Valley.
3. To Parking Lot: Monte Bello Rd (0.1 + 0.2 + 0.4 + 0.4 miles) → connector → Bella Vista Trail (0.8 miles) → Canyon Trail (0.2 + 0.4 miles)

Location: along Page Mill Road, about seven miles south of Hwy 280 . No street address. Parking area is visible in Google Maps if you zoom in sufficiently.

Directions: From Interstate 280, exit on Page Mill Road. Drive west on Page Mill about 7 miles, to the preserve entrance on the left side of the road (about 1 mile east of Skyline Boulevard).

Google Maps:

Parking Fees: None (last visited: September 2011)

Capacity: About 20 cars

Latitude: 37.325948     Longitude: -122.178552