CALIFORNIA
San Bruno Mountain State Park
I am normally against these kinds of “city parks” because they don’t really feel that much like a nature excursion but I’m glad I gave up on that idea. I was expecting it to be cold, but it was actually a really pleasant winter day. I ended up putting two jackets and my beanie in my backpack.
Here is the trail map. See the image for about half of the recorded path we took:
We parked at the school there, which I believe is called Mills Montessori School. It appears they have parking for the park itself, so I think you would be safe to park there even once COVID is not around.
From there it was a pretty steep climb up the hill. I just did some hiking last weekend but this was intense! I’m blaming Thanksgiving dinner and drinking for why I struggled so hard.
We also saw two coyotes on this hike! Or, possibly the same coyote twice. They were too far away to get a decent picture of, unfortunately.
The views were pretty spectacular right out of the gate, where we could see all across South San Francisco and Daly City. We also made a small point to stop at the major rocky outcroppings to give me a break and take some pictures.
There are several ways up, and actually several ways down. Once at the top, you can go left to see a radio installation which connects to a road. We did that first, then went to the right and walked out to the eastern ridge where we could see the airport and the bay.
So overall I was impressed by the views of the entire peninsula. We saw pretty much from Burlingame all the way to San Francisco and the Bay Bridge. It did help that California’s AQI is really good right now. There was also a good variety in brown grass and rocky outcroppings contrasted with green shrubbery and trees.
So we headed back down the mountain after that which was pretty steep and perilous. Be careful! This is also a very common area for ticks and the path we took down was narrow and grassy. Finally, we were dumped unceremoniously into a culvert behind a housing subdivision
From there we walked a mile ish back to my car. All told the hike was about 7 miles, and we climbed I believe 91 flights of stairs. Definitely a good workout with a good payoff. From there I drove us to In N Out where I could stuff a burger in my face :)