SHORT WALKS IN THE CANYON
The 0.5-mile Live Oak Nature Trail leaves the lower meadow parking area going left on the hillside just above El Zanjon Creek. The creek probably got its name from a Spanish word meaning “deep ditch’’ or “slough.” Through an oak glade follow the trail in the shade of live oaks. In fall, poison oak bushes put on a brilliant red-orange display in the understory. Now crossing open grasslands, you see east to Mt. Diablo, the main reference point for surveying in northern California. The trail circles back on the shady upper hillside, then drops down to return to its starting point.
Another short walk goes by the Willow Shelter to the right of the park entrance on a service road above El Zanjon Creek, past picnic tables in the shade of oak groves. From the end of this road it is just a third mile back to the park entrance.
Mills Canyon Nature Area—Burlingame
Under Mexican rule, Mills Canyon was part of Rancho Buri Buri, which included most of northeast San Mateo County, extending as far south as present-day San Mateo. In the early 1860s Darius Ogden Mills and his brother-in-law, Ansel Easton, each bought 1500 acres of Rancho Buri Buri. The division between their two holdings ran straight through this canyon. Most of Mills’ estate was in contemporary Millbrae, but this land, including the upper part of this canyon which takes his name, was eventually annexed to Burlingame.
The city acquired the canyon as a park and wildlife area, and in 1978 volunteers built a delightful, hikers-only, 1.75-mile loop called the Ed Taylor Trail, in honor of the man who built the trail and inspired the volunteers. Dedicated in September 1983, the trail is maintained by local volunteers, the Friends of Mill Canyon, with the help of the city of Burlingame. This group offers a variety of hikes from the Adeline Street entrance on the second Saturday of every month, featuring topics on wildlife, native plants, geology, and insects, and a yearly nature treasure hunt for children. Eagle Scouts built the steps from Adeline Drive and other Scouts put up information boards at the trail entrance.
The Nature Area is open from 8 A.M. to dusk. To get to the Adeline Drive entrance, from El Camino or Skyline Blvd. in Burlingame take Hillside Drive and turn northeast on Adeline Drive to off-street parking. For the Arguello Drive entrance from I-280 or El Camino Real in Burlingame, take Trousdale Drive, and turn south on Sebastian Drive. In two blocks, turn right on Arguello Drive and go to the park entrance on the south side of the 3000 block.
This 1.75-mile loop trail through a tight little canyon in suburban Burlingame traverses open northwest slopes, then dips down into deep woods beside Mills Creek. On a summer day this canyon is a cool, sheltered place for a leisurely walk along a little watercourse, relatively unchanged since the early settlers came here. On fair winter days the southern sun shining on the northwest hillside will warm you while you enjoy the views down the canyon.
As you enter the preserve from Arguello Drive, a large sign tells you to start your trip on the Ed Taylor Trail which begins to your right about 25 feet from the entrance. This path descends gently through willows, live oaks, coyote bushes, and toyons for about 20 yards to a trail junction, marked by a sign post with arrows pointing to the Creekside Trail. This trail turns off sharply to the right, while the North Trail continues straight ahead on the upper hillside. By beginning on the North Trail, you have a shady uphill return on the Creekside Trail—best for warm summer days.
For Bay views, take the North Trail first, returning on the trail by the creek. On the North Trail you follow a shady path under huge, high-branched live oaks, then emerge into mixed grassland interspersed with young oaks. Then, descending along the upper edge of a tributary to Mills Creek, you follow the north bank of Mills Creek upstream winding in and out of little ravines. When you come upon a plank bridge with chain handrails that crosses to the south side of the creek at Adeline Drive, pass it to reach two tall and picturesque outcrops of graywacke, a rock formation associated with the San Andreas Fault. Then continue on the path upstream past mossy rocks and lacy wood ferns to a succession of miniature cascades and small pools. Before long the path to the main entrance turns uphill, and you leave this little creek, which below the park flows beside homes and schools, under streets and finally into the Bay at Burlingame’s Shoreline Bird Sanctuary.
Trails on Northern San Francisco Watershed Lands
San Francisco Watershed— the Bay Area Ridge Trail Route
The 15-mile linear valley running through the Watershed was formed over the millennia by movements along the San Andreas Fault. For perhaps thousands of years before the coming of the Spanish this valley was the site of Native American villages. From then until the dams were built, it was a place of small, fertile farms and a few inns. The Crystal Springs Hotel, built in 1855, a popular spa of its day, gave the lakes their name.
In the northern Watershed between the San Francisco County line and Highway 92 there are two fine trails east of the San Andreas lakes and one long trail on the west side. Each of these trails is open to the public for hiking and horseback and bicycle riding. The Sawyer Camp Historic Trail and the San Andreas Trail on the east side of the lakes, longtime Peninsula favorites, are managed by San Mateo County and are the most used of any of the County parks.
Negotiations over location of I-280 through the Watershed south of Highway 92 led to a 1969 agreement between the federal government, the State of California, the City and County of San Francisco, and San Mateo County to place the freeway farther east of the lakes than originally proposed. This agreement granted two easements affecting the Watershed lands and guaranteed certain scenic and recreation rights in perpetuity to the people of the United States.
Roughly 19,000 acres on the west side of the lakes are designated as a scenic easement. They must remain undeveloped—preserved for watershed capacity, scenic quality, and limited access. East of the lakes, 4000 acres of the Watershed will continue for their scenic value and watershed purposes, but may also be used for recreation, including trails someday.
The longest and newest trail is a 9.5-mile segment of the Bay Area Ridge Trail that starts beside the cemetery lands at the upper junction of Highways 92 and 35 (Skyline Boulevard) and follows Fifield/Cahill Ridge roads to the Portola Gate in Sweeney Ridge—Golden Gate National Recreation Area’s open space lands south of Skyline College in San Bruno.
At this writing, the Ridge Trail hikes, bicycle rides, and horseback rides are open to docent-led trips only. Trips are available on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. To sign up for one of these trips, to act as a docent, or to learn more about the Ridge Trail in the Watershed look at the website http://sfwater.org.
Presently, trips start from the old Watershed quarry, halfway up the mountain on the north side of Highway 92. From there it is a steep, approximately 1.5-mile climb to the Fifield/Cahill Ridge service road that meanders along the middle ridge of the Watershed lands. On this wide, fenced, gravel-surfaced road, you travel along Cahill Ridge through a tall, mature forest of Douglas firs interspersed with some redwoods. The understory is lush with bay trees, toyon bushes, and ferns draping old stumps and tree branches. There are too, occasional escapes from urban gardens, such as English holly.
From a few openings in the forest you can see San Francisco Bay, Mt. Diablo, and the East Bay hills. In the foreground are the San Andreas Lakes, though not as easily seen from this leg of the trip. A few patches of open grassland offer a view west across the canyon of Pilarcitos Creek to the upper ridges of Starker Peak. In less than 4 miles on the service road you reach the junction known as Five Points, which is the stopping point on the Ridge Trail route for the shorter trips.
However, the longer trip continues another 5 miles to the Portola Gate. This section beyond Five Points on Fifield Ridge becomes hilly and the trees fewer, but wildflowers in spring are glorious. At the top of the first hill beyond Five Points, you can look back to Pilarcitos Lake nestled in a wooded canyon on the west side of the ridge. The near view takes in the length of the San Andreas and Crystal Springs Lakes in the San Andreas Rift Valley. Beyond is the