Pleasant hike through redwoods.

Location: Cascade Ranch

» RedwoodHikes Map: Excellent map showing trails near Chalk Mountain.

» Redwood Hikes Map: Bay Area Trail Map: Saratoga to Big Basin, First edition, 2010. This is an excellent map sold by Dave Baselt ($6.95 in Dec 2011). This map is useful for exploring many parks in this area. Highly recommended for avid hikers.

From the trail head, start walking along Whitehouse Ridge Trail (there is no sign at the trailhead with the name of this trail). At the 0.6 mile mark, there is "Lower Vista Point" that offers views of the valley and the ocean. At the 0.9 mile mark, there is "Upper Vista Point", offering similar views. Continue along Whitehouse Ridge Trail for another 0.2 miles. Then continue along Chalk Mountain for 1.4 miles to reach a bifurcation in the trail. Turn right to reach Chalk Mountain within 0.1 miles.

Notes: Overall, this is a challenging hike with 1000 ft elevation gain in the first 0.8 miles.

Location: along Whitehouse Canyon Road, Pescadero, CA 94060 . No street address. Parking area is not visible in Google Maps.

Directions: On Highway 1, about 0.1 miles south of Rossi Rd, there is an unsigned dirt road. This road is called Whitehouse Canyon Rd in maps but there is no sign on the road itself except a logo of Skylark Ranch (white with a green triangle). Drive 2.3 miles east along this dirt road to reach a pullout for about 8 to 10 cars. At this point, you shall see a sign that says "No Further Public Access Past This Point". The trailhead is close to this sign, on your right.

Google Maps:

Parking Fees: None (last visited: May 2010)

Capacity: 8 to 10 cars

Latitude: 37.169721     Longitude: -122.315855