Edgewood County Park and Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve are two parks located on the hotter and drier east side of Interstate 280 in the San Carlos hills. The vegetation is a mix of grassland, chaparral, and oak woodland. It can get very hot here so it’s a good idea to either visit on a…
Category: Trail Running
Huddart-Wunderlich Loop
This is a fantastic loop that utilizes excellent trails in both Huddart County Park and Wunderlich County Park, and the Skyline Trail that runs between the parks. It’s one of those loops that just makes sense! The elevation ranges from 400 feet at the base to ~2,300 feet at the top of Wunderlich Park. The…
El Corte de Madera Creek OSP
Popular with mountain bikers, El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve has a collection of trails that is also very fun for running! The park is located off the westside of Skyline Blvd. El Corte features some single track and some fire road, but I try to design loops with as much single track…
Fall Creek Unit of Henry Cowell State Park
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park is a very famous tourist stop, complete with a visitor center and promenade through some old growth redwoods. However, there is a whole other unit of Henry Cowell at Fall Creek canyon. that is rugged, primitive, and much less visited. There is a dirt parking lot off Felton-Empire Road, but…
Portola Valley Ranch Figure-8 Loop
After a few visits, I have successfully designed a long loop through Portola Valley Ranch that is all trails with only a small section of repetition (0.4 mile) along the Arroyo Trail. The run described below makes a figure-8 loop and is a nice combination of single track and wider paths. The setting is mostly…
Butano Ridge Loop
Last week I had the opportunity to check out the Butano Ridge Loop (not to be confused with Butano State Park described here) in Pescadero Creek County Park which was another fantastic run in deep redwood forest. The loop itself is 10.3 miles, but it requires a couple miles each way to get to the…
Purisima Creek Redwoods OSP
Another fantastic run on some trails I have never run before at Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve (map). I have always known of Purisima’s existence, but chose to run at neighboring El Corte de Madera Creek OSP because it seemed like there were more trails and options there. Indeed, while Purisima Creek Redwoods has…
Bay Area Trails List
Check out the new Trails Page! I made a listing of 50+ locations in the Bay Area for great trail running. I have run at many of the parks, but a few remain for future exploration. The trail running is fantastic around here! Everything from single track in redwoods to sweeping view of the bay…
Butano State Park
After three full-day bar review lectures (including today, Saturday) I decided to explore a new area in the Santa Cruz Mountains to clear the mind. I also said I would chime in if something cool happened, so here is something cool! I left Stanford at 4:30 pm after class and arrived at Butano State Park…
Cougar Mountain 5 Mile Trail Race
Home in Sammamish for the week, I wanted to check out the 4-race trail running series at Cougar Mountain. The first event, a 5 mile trail run, was held this morning. The subsequent races get progressively longer with a 7.5 miler next month, a 10 miler in July, and a 13 miler in August. The…
Leor Pantilat's Adventures