Looking for a picturesque hike with medium-elevation around 2-hours? We found it! Today, Minsoo & I headed to El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve. We took Woodside Road (Highway 84) from Redwood City about 20-minutes to Highway 35-Skyline Blvd. (At the corner of 35 & 84, there's a cute little restaurant with great happy hour specials; a review about Alice's Restaurant coming soon!)
 |
At Highways 35 & 84
 |
Winding North on 35 for about 10-15 minutes, there's a grass parking lot (CM02) on the left-hand side of the ride-across from the Old Methuselah Tree. El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve is stuffed full of hiking & biking trails. There are a few different starting points, so when you find a place to start, make sure you grab a map, which is provided by the district. Or you can print one ahead of time, to plan your route: http://www.openspace.org/preserves/maps/pr_ecdm.pdf
Heading North on Timberview Trail, be started to head down...way down! It's a steady descent to the bottom until the path turns into Gordon Mill Trail. I was on foot, but Minsoo was trying out his new mountain bike. It was a little steep for him going downhill, so he walked his bike sometimes. But once we hit the 1/2 way mark, the trail started to climb, and off he went! It was a sunny day, but a little chilly; we definitely worked up a sweat on the incline. Unfortunately I forgot my camera this trip, so I'll have to do this loop again in a few weeks to get pictures and see if my time improves.
Trails Taken: Timberview Trail, Gordon Mill Trail Steam Donkey Trail & Gordon Mill Alternate Trail
Distance: 5.5 miles
Time: 1H 54M
