TRAIL 35 Peninsula

Long Ridge Open Space Preserve

TRAIL USE

Hike, Run, Bike

LENGTH

4.6 miles, 2–3 hours

VERTICAL FEET

±850'

DIFFICULTY

– 1 2 3 4 5 +

TRAIL TYPE

Loop

SURFACE TYPE

Dirt

FEATURES

Stream
Canyon
Summit
Autumn Colors
Birds
Great Views
Secluded
Cool and Shady

FACILITIES

None

Superb views are the reason to wander uphill from the shady confines of Peters Creek to the dramatically situated Wallace Stegner memorial bench high atop Long Ridge. On a clear day, the scene extends westward over the Pescadero Creek watershed, taking in thousands of acres of protected lands, which are truly a living monument to the open space movement.

Best Time

All year, but trails may be muddy in wet weather. Peters Creek, Long Ridge, and Ridge trails are closed seasonally to bikes and horses.

Finding the Trail

From the junction of Skyline Blvd. and Page Mill Rd./Alpine Rd. south of Palo Alto, take Skyline Blvd. southeast 3.1 miles to a roadside parking area on the left. This parking area, sometimes called the Grizzly Flat Trailhead, serves both Long Ridge Open Space Preserve and Upper Stevens Creek County Park. The trailhead is on the southwest side of Skyline Blvd., across from the parking area.

Trail Description

From the trailhead1 pass through a seasonal-closure gate that prevents access by bikes and horses during wet weather; ahead are information boards with dog-permit information and a map holder. From here, descend the Peters Creek Trail as it wanders across a hillside that falls away to the right. Soon this single-track trail swings into a cool, dark forest of mostly Douglas-fir and California bay.

A still-prolific apple orchard beside the Peters Creek Trail blooms beautifully in spring and in the fall is often heavily loaded with several varieties of apples.

At a junction, a trail merges sharply from the right. This is the Ridge Trail, which heads north toward Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve. The Ridge Trail and the Peters Creek Trail (from this point on) are both part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail. Dogs are prohibited beyond this point on the Peters Creek Trail. You continue straight on the Peters Creek Trail, and after several hundred feet cross the trail’s namesake creek on a bridge. Stay straight at the next junction, where the Long Ridge Trail joins from the right.2

In a meadow, you pass a dirt road3 which ascends right to the Long Ridge Trail. Follow the Peters Creek Trail, here a dirt road bordered by dense forest on the right and an open field with the willow-lined creek on the left. At an unsigned junction, a dirt road forks left and crosses a bridge over Peters Creek, but you angle right. Soon you cross to the east side of Peters Creek, enjoying a stroll beneath red alders, a moisture-loving tree often found beside creeks and rivers.

Stream

Where a gate blocks the road, turn right and cross an earthen dam. Built in the 1960s, this 200-foot-long dam turned part of Peters Creek into the cattail-fringed Jikoji Pond on your left. On the far side of the dam, you cross the pond’s spillway on a wooden bridge. Now the trail zigzags uphill through forest and meadow to a seasonal-closure gate.

Lake

OPTIONS

Trail Options

Long Ridge Open Space Preserve borders Upper Stevens Creek County Park, Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve, and Portola Redwoods State Park, making possible many extended loops and point-to-point routes.

Just beyond the gate is a four-way junction atop Long Ridge.4 Here, Ward Road goes left and also straight, but you turn right on Long Ridge Road. This spectacularly situated road affords a fabulous view that extends westward across the Pescadero Creek drainage to the Pacific Ocean. A rolling course through mostly open terrain brings you in about 0.5 mile to the Wallace Stegner memorial bench,5 which honors one of California’s best-loved writers and open-space advocates.

Great Views

Just past the bench, veer right from the road on the single-track Long Ridge Trail. Beyond a seasonal-closure gate, you enter dense forest and contour across a hillside that falls away to the right. Crossing a saddle, you descend to a junction in a clearing, where you cross a dirt road.6

Since 1979, the pond at the headwaters of Peters Creek has been the property of a Buddhist group, now known as Jikoji, which runs a nearby meditation center.

Go straight and continue on the Long Ridge Trail, which wraps around a wooded knoll studded with stands of black oak and manzanita. A moderate and then steep descent brings you to the junction with the Peters Creek Trail you passed earlier.7 Here turn left and retrace your route to the parking area, remembering to stay right on the Peters Creek Trail where the Ridge Trail branches left.8

MILESTONES

Trail 35

1 0.0 Take Peters Creek Trail

2 0.5 Long Ridge Trail on right

3 0.9 Angle left to stay on Peters Creek Trail

4 2.1 Right at four-way junction on Long Ridge Rd.

5 2.6 Stegner memorial bench on left; veer right on Long Ridge Trail

6 3.4 Straight across clearing to stay on Long Ridge Trail

7 4.1 Retrace to parking area by going left and then right on Peters Creek Trail

8 4.6 Back at parking area