Peninsula Skyline’s road to views, hiking, biking

You could search every corner of the nation for the best holiday drive with views, parks and trailheads and not find a better destination than the Peninsula Skyline.

In the 28.6 miles from Highway 92 to Castle Rock State Park — all of it gorgeous — are at least 17 sites for viewing, hiking, biking and a few other surprises.

The official name is Highway 35, but most folks just call it Skyline. The prettiest days of the year there are often in winter, when cold, clear weather yields sensational views across the South Bay, with staged lookouts along the way.

The trails launch on both flanks, to the west across the coastal hills with conifers, and to the east into hardwoods. Along the way, the surprises include the Methuselah Tree, the Tafoni Monolith, Goat Rock and many pristine sites along creeks in canyons and clearings with long-distance views.

Here is a synopsis of what you will find on Skyline, north to south, from the junction at 92 on south to Castle Rock.

Purisima Creek Redwoods/Whittemore Gulch: The 6.5-mile loop starts with glimpses to the north of Pillar Point Harbor, then drops 1,600 feet into redwoods, before returning on a wilderness ridge. Location: From Highway 92, 4.5 miles south on right.

Purisima Creek Redwoods/Redwood Trail: A short, easy loop walk through redwoods. The more ambitious can link to a trail that descends along headwaters of Purisima Creek. Location: From Highway 92, 6.5 miles south on right.

Skeggs Point/South Bay view: From this designated lookout with parking, you can scan across the Peninsula foothills to Filoli Crystal Springs and to the South Bay, Dumbarton Bridge and to Mount Diablo on the horizon. Location: From Highway 92, 8.6 miles south on left (no left turns; you must continue ahead, up the road a half mile, where there is a space on the shoulder to pull over, and a clear view of the road for U-turn; watch out for motorcycles behind you).

Methuselah Tree: Two-minute walk leads to the biggest redwood on the north Peninsula, a 14-foot diameter above the burl with a 44-foot circumference. Location: From Highway 92, 9.1 miles south; park on road’s shoulder; short trail to giant redwood tree is on the left (east) side of road.

El Corte de Madera/Tafoni & hike-in Vista Point: You can create a 6.5-mile hike that leads to the surprise Tafoni Monolith, a honeycombed sandstone formation, and then to an inland picnic site perched at 2,200-foot Vista Point with a peek-a-boo view in a break in the trees to the coast. Location: From Highway 92, 9.6 miles south, access road to parking lot on right.

Wunderlich/Alambique Trail: This overlooked route features a 4.5-mile loop on which you descend into a pristine and remote redwood canyon (above Woodside) with a pretty creek. Location: From Highway 92, 10 miles south of 92; park on road’s shoulder, trailhead on east side of road.

Windy Hill/Spring Ridge: From the top, you get a sweeping view across South Bay. You then can connect with several trails for 7.5-mile loop that descend into foothills above Portola and back. Location: From Skyline junction with Highway 84 at Sky Londa, 2.3 miles south on the left.

Coal Creek/Cloud’s Rest: The Cloud’s Rest Trail provides views that plummet below to the South Bay. The trail then descends to Alpine Road. Location: From Skyline junction with Highway 84 at Sky Londa, 6 miles south on the left (trailhead is just north of Caltrans Vista Point).

Caltrans Vista Point/South Bay view: You look over Felt Lake and Hoover Tower at Stanford, can take in the entire Santa Clara Valley and often can see the reflections of the observatories atop Mount Hamilton. One discouraging side note is the high number of cigarette butts we found here. Location: From Skyline junction with Highway 84 at Sky Londa, 6 miles south on the left to parking area.

Russian Ridge/Borel Hill: This less-than-a-mile trail (0.7) leads up to 2,572-foot Borel Hill for a spectacular view to the west across the coastal foothills to the ocean; when fog sets in, often just above the stratus. Location: From Skyline junction with Highway 84 at Sky Londa, 6 miles south on the right; park on road’s shoulder (across from Vista Point) at Gate #RR01.

Skyline Ridge/Alpine Pond: A short walk through a tunnel emerges at a nature center perched on stilts at Alpine Pond, a gorgeous small lake, often with lots of songbirds. A cutoff connects to the Ipiwa Trail, where you can climb to a ridge for a view west across the Butano Rim. Location: At Skyline junction with Alpine Road; turn right on Alpine and drive short distance to access road on right to parking area.

Skyline Ridge/Horseshoe Lake: An easy 1-mile descent, OK for mountain bikes, leads to little Horseshoe Lake, where the best view is on the far side. The ambitious can continue up the very steep but short Sunny Jim Trail, to get ridgetop views to the west. Location: At Skyline junction with Alpine Road, 1 mile south on the right to parking area.

Upper Stevens Creek/Grizzly Flat: This great mountain-bike ride is 2 miles downhill on a fire road into Upper Stevens Creek County Park, with several options (some very steep) for your return or to extend the ride. Location: From Skyline junction with Alpine Road, 2 miles south on the left, park on road’s shoulder.

Long Ridge/Stegner Bench: A 4.6-mile loop hike descends into valley and then climbs 400 feet to Long Ridge and the Stegner Bench, a prize lookout across Butano Rim and the coast near Pescadero. Varied terrain crosses canyons, creeks, hardwood forests, conifers and a surprise pond. Location: From Skyline junction with Alpine Road, 3.3 miles south on the right, park on road’s shoulder.

Saratoga Gap Vista Point: This lookout draws visitors from near and far, with a view below across the Santa Clara Valley, wall-to-wall, and beyond to the wilderness flank of Mount Hamilton. Location: At Skyline junction with Highway 9, park at the Caltrans Vista Point at the southeast corner.

Saratoga Gap/trail links: This is a staging area with trails into other parks: The Saratoga Gap Trail is routed north along Skyline for 1.7 miles to a fork, where you can turn right to access Upper Stevens Creek County Park, or turn left for 0.3 of a mile and then cross the road to link to Long Ridge Open Space Preserve. Other trails from staging area connect west to Skyline-to-the-Sea. Location: At Skyline junction with Highway 9, park at the Caltrans Vista Point at the southeast corner; then walk across Highway 9 to reach trailhead at northeastern corner of junction.

Castle Rock State Park/Goat Rock: This 5-mile loop hike takes you past Castle Rock Falls (via a spur trail on left), the base of Goat Rock (views across Big Basin), and then on return, take spur trail on right to the top of Goat Rock for sensational lookout across Santa Cruz Mountains to Monterey Bay. Location: From Skyline junction with Highway 9, 2.6 miles south, parking area on right.

How to get there

From San Francisco/Peninsula: Take I-280 south for 21 miles to exit for Highway 35/Bunker Hill Road (also signed for Highway 92W). Take that exit, continue 0.2 of a mile to frontage road, turn left and go 1.1 miles to Highway 92 (stoplight). Turn right and drive over the causeway for Crystal Springs and continue 2 miles up the hill to the crest and left turn lane for Highway 35/Skyline. Turn left and drive south on Skyline.

From East Bay: Take I-880 to Hayward and Exit 27 for Highway 92 West (signed for San Mateo Bridge). Take that exit, merge onto Highway 92 and drive 21 miles (over San Mateo Bridge and up to Skyline Ridge) to the left turn lane for Highway 35/Skyline. Turn left and drive south on Skyline.

Contacts

Park districts: Midpeninsula Open Space District, (650) 691-1200, www.openspace.org; San Mateo County Department of Parks, (650) 363-4020, http://parks.smcgov.org; Castle Rock State Park, (408) 867-2952, www.parks.ca.gov; Santa Clara County Parks Department, (408) 355-2200, www.sccgov.org/sites/parks.