This 467-acre county park is located in the lower eastern foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains above Redwood City. It's at the southeast corner of Edgewood Road and I-280. Pulgas Ridge OSP is just to the north across Edgewood Road. Edgewood County Park's serpentine grasslands have some of the best springtime wildflower displays in the Bay Area. 8 miles of trails run through the park, reaching a high point of 872 feet. The trails lead through shady fern-covered canyons, open grasslands, and the central forested ridge. Here is some information about the wildflowers and birds at Edgewood.
Huddart County Park is located on the eastern slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains above the town of Woodside. Its main entrance is on King's Mountain Road, just above Woodside Road. It is near Wunderlich County Park, but is much more developed. It has picnic areas, a playground, playing fields, an amphitheatre, an archery range, a nature trail, and a group campground. It is a popular recreation area. The developed areas can get crowded on weekends. However, miles of trails lead into the shady canyons and forests, with fewer crowds the higher you go. The trails go all the way to Skyline Blvd.
Here are some Huddart County Park trails.
This 6,486-acre park is the largest of the 3 county parks that make up the Pescadero Creek Complex. It's even twice as largest as adjacent Portola State Park. There are 40 miles of trails here, many of which connect to other nearby parks. It has 2 trail camps for backpackers making long hikes through the area. This is a diverse area consisting of oak woodlands, grassy meadows, and shady second-growth redwood forests.
Sam McDonald county park is part of the Pescadero Creek Complex. It was named after Sam McDonald, a popular employee at Stanford University who once owned the land. It's a 1003-acre park along La Honda, Pescadero, and Alpine roads. It's a shady park, mostly covered by second-growth redwood forests. A number of giant old-growth redwoods are also preserved here, particularly in the Heritage Grove along cool, shady Alpine Creek next to Alpine Road. Trails lead through the forests and connect with adjacent parks, allowing long hiking trips. A hiker's hut, set up by the Sierra Club, is on a ridge on the Towne Trail at the south end of the park.
Giant redwoods along Heritage Grove Trail, Sam McDonald County Park
Here is a QTVR of the Heritage Grove Trail. Here is another.
This is one of several contiguous parks in the Pescadero Creek Watershed. The others are Sam McDonald, Pescadero, and Portola. Memorial Park is one of the best places to go camping. It's located alongside Pescadero Creek. The creek is dammed up in a couple of places forming summer swimming and wading areas. The park is shaded by redwoods, with a few large old-growth trees. The park can be reached by taking Woodside Road to La Honda Road past the famous little mountain town of La Honda, then to Pescadero Creek Road. It can also be reached by a less winding route from the coastline by taking Hwy 1 to Pescadero Creek Road past the little towns of Pescadero and Loma Mar. Memorial Park has some of the best campgrounds in the area, including 2 large group camps. Trails lead down along Pescadero Creek and up to Mt. Ellen. Large second-growth redwoods and a few huge old growth redwoods shade the trails.
This 1300-acre park is located in the coastal town of Pacifica, south of San Francisco. The park extends up into the western slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains. It's mostly covered with coastal scrub and chaparral, with some grassy areas and creekside trees. San Pedro Creek flows through the park and provides spawning areas for steelhead trout. Brooks Falls flows in the wet months and drops 175 feet. The park has a visitor's center, with display on the human and natural history of the area. Trails, some steep, lead up into the mountains.
This popular paved, multi-access trail runs along the eastern edge of Lower Crystal Springs Reservoir and San Andreas Lake. There are beautiful views along this trail of the lakes and Santa Cruz Mountains, but access to the lakeshores is prevented by a fence.
Wunderlich County Park is located above the town of Woodside, just off Woodside Road. It is on land that was an estate owned by an heir to the Folger's coffee fortune. The park is on steep hillsides that run up the eastern slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains. These were once covered with redwoods, but were logged heavily a century ago. The redwoods have grown back, providing deep shade to many of the trails. See Wunderlich County Park trails.