A friend told me that Quarry Park in El Granada was worth checking out sometime. Inland temps were predicted to be hot so it seemed like a good day to head to the coast and take a look. To make a day of it, I started from the main parking lot of Purisima Creek Redwoods OSP about 8 miles from the coast. When I reach Wavecrest beach, I turn north and ride the Coastal Trail pathway 4 miles to El Granada.
Flowers are still blooming along the pathway:
Had a mid-morning snack at this bench:
Very nice out, cool ocean breeze with no fog.
I entered Quarry Park through the Santa Maria Avenue main entrance and pedal up the service road out of the parking lot. It’s not long before I start feeling like a rat in a maze, lots of roads going right and left through the tall, thin Eucalyptus:
There are no road or trail names and few signs
I carried a
print-out of the Park map, and had studied tracks on the internet the prior evening so I eventually found some nice trails. A few pictures…
After a couple and a half fun loops, I headed up through Wickklow…
…to El Granada Boulevard to Rancho Corral de Tierra. New signage is up and the lower left corner is bicycle friendly, yay!:
Typical Rancho Corral de Tierra trail: exposed, grooved, thick vegetation which sometimes chokes the trail:
This is named “Gods Trail” on Strava:
Once I was back to civilization, I went out on the wharf:
Seagulls!
One last What It Was Like Out There™ photo of the coast:
The return trip was pretty much the reverse of the morning ride out. It’s uphill and most of the climbing occurs on the Whittemore Gulch Trail—one trailwork note here is that MROSD has made a nice elevated tread through a persistent bog:
Ha, much better than the “fix” I did in 2011!:
Start ar Purisima Creek Redwoods OSP main parking lot » PCØ1 » North Ridge Trail » Whittemore Gulch Trail » PCØ5 » Higgins Canyon Road aka Higgins Purisima Road » Half Moon Bay » Highway 1 » Wavecrest Road » Coastal trails along the bluff; north to El Granada » Santa Ana Street » The Alameda » Santa Maria Avenue » Quarry Park » Wickklow » El Granada Boulevard » Rancho Corral de Tierra » Bridgeport Drive » Coral Reef Avenue » Sonora Avenue » Madrid Avenue » Capistrano Road » Ride on pier » Coastal trails along the bluff; south to Wavecrest Area » Wavecrest Road » Highway 1 » Higgins Canyon Road aka Higgins Purisima Road » PCØ5 » Whittemore Gulch Trail » North Ridge Trail » PCØ1. 40.47 / 6:28 / 9:04 / 5,331'
Link to
Open Street MapKings Mountain:
Half Moon Bay:
