A Trail with Great Views and Great Oaks
Junipero Serra County Park
"Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy." Psalm 96:12
This is another in the series, "Benches and Other Great Places for Lunch" --short hikes to special places just right for a quiet getaway.
Directions: The park is located in San Bruno between Highway 280 and El Camino Real. Northbound on 280, take the Crystal Springs Road to the stop sign. Follow signs to the park, which is one-half mile up the road on your left. Southbound on 280, turn off on Crystal Springs Road to the stop sign. Follow signs to the park.
Grade: Nearly level to moderate.
Distance: One-half mile for the Live Oak Nature trail to 1.5 mile for the Upper Loop.
Time: An hour or two.
Special Conditions: This is a San Mateo County Park. Watch for poison oak along the trailside. Good for wildflowers in the spring. Several picnic areas are available in the park. Access fee is $4. Hours are from 8 a.m. to posted closing time.
As we drove into Junipero Serra County Park on a warm spring Sunday afternoon and stopped to pay our entry fee, the ranger remarked that this park is known for its large stand of old coast live oak trees. This variety of oak is unique to the coast. It flourishes from Mendocino to the California/Mexico border along a 50-mile stretch between the beaches and the hot interior valleys.
There is a mystical beauty about this tree. The leaf structure forms a dense crown, somewhat like an umbrella. The trunk is thick (the largest known trees had trunks to 12 feet across) with multiple limbs that grow vertically or horizontally along the ground. The old trees commonly exceed 250 years.
Oaks played an important role in the early history of California. Indian tribes harvested its acorns for meal. Oak wood was reduced to an excellent charcoal. Timber from choice trees was used in shipbuilding. And an early form of penicillin was made from the acorns and applied to skin sores and boils. For many of us, the most attention we pay to the mighty oak tree is when we put a log in the fireplace on a cold winter night. But the tree has a beauty and enchantment all of its own, and this is a fine place to view it.
This park was added to the county system in 1960, having been purchased under the direction of parks' director Ralph Shaw, who headed the department from 1945 to 1971. This land was once a portion of Rancho Buri Buri and later became part of the land holdings of Comstock miner and San Francisco banker Darius Ogden Mills.
Archaeologists have found evidence of the Peninsula's aboriginal population in the form of skeletal remains, cremations, and grinding utensils. Native artifacts from the park including arrowheads and pestles are on display at the park office. (For more information on the history of Junipero Serra County Park, consult "San Mateo County Parks" by Svanevik and Burgett, published 2000, a great guide to county parks and the people who built them.)
There are two short walks in the canyon at the lower parking lot, just beyond the entrance station. The Live Oak Nature Trail is accessible from the parking lot by crossing the small bridge over El Zanjon Creek. Turn left, and follow the trail under the cover of oak trees with the creek on your left. After a short distance, the trail rounds a grassy hillside with views of the East Bay hills in the distance. A little farther on is a trail to the right that switchbacks up the hill and joins the Quail Loop Trail. If you continue straight, you will soon cross over the county park boundary and be in San Bruno City Park.
Another short walk in the canyon is to the right of the parking lot. Heading right on a service road, you will pass the Willow Shelter and a rest room. The road continues for a quarter mile, past the Oak Grove picnic site (which also accommodates youth groups on overnight outings) to the end. A short trail up the hill leads to the end of Helen Drive, a residential street. All along the walk are fine examples of classic coastal live oaks that seem to grow as much horizontally as they do vertically.
The Quail Loop Trail circles the park at an upper elevation with grassy hillsides and excellent views. The loop is about 1.5 miles with an elevation gain of 300 feet. The trailhead is to the right of the parking area. A series of switchbacks carry you through a grassy slope to the top of the hill and a forest of Monterey pines and eucalyptus trees. The trail continues through a picnic area under the trees and then breaks out to a wide meadow with wide open views ahead. This is one of those places where "on a clear day, you can see forever"--from San Francisco to San Jose and everything in between, including excellent views of aircraft coming and going at San Francisco Airport. When you're ready to leave the meadow, continue on the trail to the first junction and turn right. At the next junction, turn right again, and after three switchbacks, you're back in the Live Oak Nature Trail. Turn left, and in a quarter mile you return to the parking lot.
There are a number of good reasons to visit the park. It's close in and doesn't require a lot of driving time. Its oaks are among the best you will find on the Peninsula. It offers a fine display of spring wildflowers. And it has great views year round. The park offers many places to sit and picnic. Visit it soon. Come back often.
Your comments and hiking suggestions are always welcome.
E-mail to: trekertom@aol.com.
Footnote: Check out the Weekly Walker Web site at www.weeklywalker.com.