Peninsula Trails. Jean Rusmore

grasslands, aglow with dazzling wildflower displays in spring.

      At a saddle on the ridge you complete the Ridgeview Loop. Walk left on the Live Oak Trail for another 500 feet and turn left onto the Serpentine Trail at the junction where you left it. Along this short stretch of trail look for clumps of the low-growing blue-eyed grass and drifts of clarkia that bloom from early spring into summer.

      Almost 3 miles from the beginning of your trip, you come to the Sylvan Trail on your right. Take it for a different way back. Around wide switchbacks you descend deep into a canyon. A spring high up the headwall feeds a perennial stream, which you cross and then follow along its fern-covered banks.

      Emerging from the canyon, you pass the other leg of the Sylvan Trail on your left. Go straight ahead and downhill for 0.2 mile. Then pass to the right of the Old Stage Day Camp or take the left-hand trail, which curves around the camp’s picnic tables and barbecues on the landscaped borders of Cordilleras Creek. The park entrance is just beyond the day camp.

      For a shorter route to the park’s central ridge, take the Edgewood Trail from the parking area at Edgewood and Cañada roads on the west side of I-280. This trail runs through a corridor paralleling the south side of Edgewood Road. It goes around a fenced-off, large meadow, and leads to a passageway under the freeway. After going through the passage, continue to a kiosk that displays maps, photos and current news about the preserve and volunteer work opportunities. Turn left on the Serpentine Loop and in 200 feet turn right on the Franciscan Trail, which you follow to the Ridgeview Loop. Turn either left or right to circle the hilltop. This makes a 2.75-mile loop trip with an elevation gain of 430’.