Great hike through forest and creeks near Highway 35.

Location: Upper Stevens Creek County Park — Long Ridge Open Space Preserve

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

» Official Trail Map: Good 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.

» 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.

» 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.

Route in brief: This hike starts in Upper Stevens Creek County Park and goes through Long Ridge Open Space Preserve: Bay Area Ridge Trail (0.3 miles) → Table Mountain Trail (2.7 + 0.1 + 1.1 miles) → Canyon Trail (0.3 miles) → Grizzly Flat Trail (2.5 miles) to reach Highway 35 (Skyline Blvd), Cross over to enter Long Ridge Open Space Preserve. Walk along Peters Creek Trail (0.4 + 0.1 + 0.4 + 0.3 + 0.4 + 0.5 miles) → Ward Road (0.1 + 0.2 miles) → Hickory Oaks Trail (0.5 + 0.1 + 0.2 miles).

Notes:

1. Grizzly Flat Trail: Grizzly Flat Trail is actually two trails which converge to the same point. One of the trails is called the Upper Grizzly Flat Trail, the other is called Lower Grizzly Flat Trail. You may take any of them.
2. Creek Crossings: A couple of creek crossings along Table Mountain Trail might be challenging in spring, especially after rains. Creeks are drawn on the trail map, one along Table Mountain Trail and another along Canyon Trail. Warning signs say that crossings might be difficult after rains.
3. Long Ridge: Some trails in Long Ridge Open Space Preserve are shaded while others are in the open. We saw an apple tree on Peters Creek Trail. Hickory Oaks Trail was completely unshaded. Peters Creek Trail was partly shaded and partly in the open.
4. Alternate Trailhead: You may also start this hike from the trail head at the interesction of Grizzly Flat and Highway 35. This is the point where the route transitions from Upper Stevens County Park to Long Ridge Open Space Preserve.

Location: along Skyline Blvd (Hwy 35), 1.4 miles west of Highway 9 . No street address. Parking area is not visible in Google Maps.

Directions: Study this trail map for the exact location of entrance called "LRO1" (Long Ridge 01). The trailhead lies on Skyline Blvd (Hwy 35), 1.4 miles west of its intersection with Highway 9.

Note that there is a second entrance via Charcoal Rd into Upper Stevens Creek County Park. This entrance is only about 0.1 miles east of the LR01 entrance. However, there is no parking space here. Instead, drive 0.1 miles west to reach LR01, where multiple cars may be parked.

Google Maps:

Parking Fees: None (last visited: October 2010)

Capacity: About 5-6 cars

Latitude: 37.269297     Longitude: -122.141454

There are two creek crossings: one along Table Mountain Trail and another along Canyon Trail. Warning signs say that crossings might be difficult after rains.