A challenging hike to Black Mountain from Rhus Ridge Trailhead.

Location: Rancho San Antonio County Park

» Official Trail Map: High quality map showing various trail sections.

» 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.

To Black Mountain (4.8 miles): From Rhus Ridge Trailhead, follow Rhus Ridge Trail (0.9 miles) → Black Mountain Trail (3.9 miles) to reach Black Mountain. The last one mile, starting at an electricity pole, is pretty steep. It is one of the steepest trails in the bay area. From the top of Black Mountain, there are rewarding views of silicon valley in the north and Santa Cruz mountains in the south.

To Rhus Ridge Trailhead: Retrace your steps.

Location: Close to intersection of Rhus Ridge Rd and Bassett Ln, Los Altos, CA 94022. . No street address. Parking area is visible in Google Maps if you zoom in sufficiently.

Directions:

From I-280, take the El Monte Road exit west. Left on Moody Road. Left on Rhus Ridge Road. Before reaching the intersection with Bassett Lane, there is a parking lot on the right.

In the past, when I found this lot full, I drove down Rhus Ridge, turned right on Moody Road, then turned right on Tepa Way to park in front of houses on Tepa Way. Rhus Ridge trail head is about half a mile away.

Google Maps:

Parking Fees: None (last visited: Jan 2012)

Capacity: Only about five to seven cars may be parked here.

Latitude: 37.352357     Longitude: -122.138035