most noted botanists. The flowery little meadow around the tree was popular as a picnic spot in Mexican and early California times. Today the tree is fenced to protect it, and there is a picnic area nearby, and once again picnickers are enjoying this retreat beside the famous bay tree.
Here and there you will come to benches beside the trail for a place to rest, picnic, or enjoy the sound of a stream or a view of the lake. At about its halfway point, the trail crosses San Andreas Creek where it enters Lower Crystal Springs Lake. From here on, it borders the east side of the lake, giving a succession of views out over the bright waters to the wooded Watershed hills. The Peninsula’s own “Lake District” has a special enchantment whether mists are shrouding the mountains or the lakes are reflecting a blue sky.
A few hawks sail overhead. Grebes, ducks, and other waterfowl bob on the water, and the oaks by the trail are alive with countless small birds—countless except to the Audubon Society, which enumerates the species meticulously in its annual Christmas bird count; a recent count totaled 190 species. Bring your binoculars and favorite bird guide.
Along the road cuts you will see the greenish-gray serpentine, a rock that occurs through the foothills in San Mateo County. It is frequently found in major earthquake fault zones, and is associated with some of our finest wildflower displays.
The south end of the trail is on Skyline Boulevard at the Crystal Springs Dam that crosses the gorge of San Mateo Creek. (A proposed extension to Highway 92 is planned in the near future.) This is a good starting point for a 3+ mile walk north by the lake, with vistas of the shimmering waters around each bend. Your return trip brings you new views as you retrace your steps. Walk here in late winter when clouds are moving across the sky and sunshine alternates with light showers. The hills are already green, drifts of magenta Indian warriors bloom under the trees, and the first buds of iris appear. This is one of the Peninsula’s best walks for any time of the year and the most popular of San Mateo County parks.
Pilarcitos Lake seen from Bay Area Ridge Trail route through the Watershed
Central Peninsula
From Highway 92 to Highway 84
West side of the Santa Cruz Mountains seen from La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve
Trails on Southern San Francisco Watershed Lands
Crystal Springs Trail
Bordering Upper Crystal Springs Lake, this trail traverses the linear valley on the San Andreas Rift Zone known by the Spaniards as Cañada de Raimundo, then continues through a corner of the Watershed and up through Huddart Park to the Skyline. Views of lakes, mountains and hills make this a beautiful trail for short trips along its segments. Connections with trails east and west make it a useful route for longer expeditions. The trail is part of San Mateo County’s north-south trail corridor, and it provides access to the regional Bay Area Ridge Trail
The Crystal Springs Trail follows the easement of the old California Riding and Hiking Trail between the boundary fence of the Watershed and Cañada Road, from Highway 92 to Huddart Park and up to the Skyline. Although the trail easement extends north to the Sawyer Camp Trail, a 1.3-mile segment from Highway 92 to the Crystal Springs Dam is proposed.
The nearly 10-mile Crystal Springs Trail appears in this book in three sections: (1) from Cañada Road at Highway 92 to Edgewood and Cañada roads, (2) from Edgewood Road to Huddart Park, and (3) through the park to the Skyline. The first trip in Huddart Park, An All-Day Hike Circling the Park, features this trail.
At the Pulgas Water Temple grounds there is a small parking area, open on weekdays from 9 A.M. TO 4 P.M. No roadside parking is allowed within a mile on either side. However, the lovely water temple and its reflecting pool and grounds, open to pedestrians and bicyclists, make a fine destination from either end of the trail.
Jurisdiction: San Mateo County: 650-363-4020
Facilities: Trail for hikers and equestrians
Rules: Open from 8 A.M. to sunset; no bicycles
Maps: San Mateo County Mid-County Trails; USGS topos San Mateo and Woodside
How to Get There: From I-280: (1) North entrance: (a) Southbound—Take Half Moon Bay exit to Skyline Blvd. (Hwy 35), go south to Hwy 92, and then turn east. Turn south on Cañada Rd. and go 0.2 mile to trail entrance on west side of road just opposite the Ralston Trail/I-280 Overcrossing Trail junction; (b) Northbound— Take Hwy 92 exit west to Cañada Rd. Turn south for 0.2 mile to trail entrance. (2) South entrance: Take Edgewood Rd. exit, go west to Edgewood/Cañada Rd. intersection, where there is parking. No parking at Raymundo Drive cul-de-sac entrance to Huddart Park. Note: No parking is allowed on Cañada Rd. Canada Rd. is closed to motor-vehicle traffic from the intersection of Hwy 92 to Edgewood Rd. for “Bicycle Sunday,” a popular event held every Sunday year-round.
HIGHWAY 92 TO EDGEWOOD AND CAÑADA ROADS
Lakeside views give way to broad, parklike meadows set against a backdrop of wooded slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Distance: 4 miles one way
Time: 2 hours
Elevation Change: Relatively level
The trip south begins on a path departing from a point on Cañada Road, 0.2 mile south of Highway 92 and just across the road from the western entrance to the Ralston Trail/I-280 Overcrossing. You can also walk north along this unimproved lakeside trail as far as the intersection of Highway 92 and Skyline Boulevard. At times the trail swings away from the road, coming close to the lake, or leads down below road level through oak groves.
The lake is a resting place for water birds on the Pacific Flyway, so take your binoculars. Even without them you will easily identify the big, brownish Canada geese that winter here. Flocks of them often gather along the shores. In the early morning and evening you may see herds of deer grazing in the fields or drinking at the water’s edge.
Soon after the trail leaves the lakeside, it passes the point where the Sheep Camp Trail joins the east side of Cañada Road. From here to the Pulgas Water Temple the trail is on a bank above the road. The Water Temple grounds, re-opened on October 25, 2004, the temple’s 70th birthday, are open to the public from 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. daily, and include lawns for picnicking and sunning, and the Water Temple itself. At the end of a long reflecting pool is the classic little Pulgas Water Temple, where waters from high in the Sierra thunder into the sluiceway to the Crystal Springs lakes. Inscribed around the pediment are words from the Book of Isaiah, “I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert to give drink to my people.”
Continuing south you see on the valley floor to the west open fields and groves of stately oaks, a part of the Filoli estate, which once belonged to W.B. Bourn, president of the Spring Valley Water Company. The name for the estate was coined by Bourn from “Fight,” “Love,” and “Live,” taken from “Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, and live a good life.” A later owner, Mrs. William Roth, changed the “fight” to “fidelity.” Designed by Willis Polk and completed in 1917, Filoli was the last of the great mansions built in San Mateo County.