Nice route through tall redwoods and vista points in Portola Valley.

Location: Portola Redwoods State Park — Pescadero Creek County Park

» Official Trail Map for Pescadero Creek County Park: Pretty good quality map showing all the trails.

» Official State Parks Map: A map showing all the trails but hard to read.

» Redwood Hikes Map: Annotated trail map of Portola Redwoods State Park and Pescadero Creek County Park, Second edition, 2008. This is an excellent map sold by Dave Baselt ($6.95 in Dec 2011). This map is useful for exploring a bunch of parks: Portola Redwoods, Pescadero Creek, Sam Macdonald.

» 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.

Route in brief:

To Tarwater Trailhead: From Portola Redwoods Park HQ, find your way to Coyote Ridge Trail → Upper Coyote Ridge Trail to reach Tarwater Trailhead.

To Park HQ: Follow Tarwater Loop Trail → left on Pomponio Trail to reach Park HQ.

Notes: There are several intersections close to Park HQ, so a good trail map would be helpful.

Location: (Park HQ) along Portola State Park Rd, La Honda, CA 94020 . No street address. Parking area is visible in Google Maps if you zoom in sufficiently.

Directions: From I-280, take Page Mill Road 8.6 miles to Highway 35, cross the road and continue on Alpine Road for 3.8 miles. Turn left on Portola State Park Rd (there is a clear sign at the intersection of Alpine Rd and Portola State Park Rd). Drive for 3.5 miles to reach park headquarters.

Google Maps:

Parking Fees: $10 per car (last visited: Feb 2010)

Capacity: Several cars

Latitude: 37.252505     Longitude: -122.218378