The Secret Southern Loop Hike

The Hike

I set out to explore the barely trafficked south side of San Bruno Mountain via several unnamed but perfectly lovely trails. That side, above Colma and South San Francisco, doesn't have the same developed, accessible trailheads with facilities that you get in the main entrance off of Guadalupe Canyon Parkway. In fact, though there appear to be a number of trailheads on the south and south-west sides of the mountain, it’s hard to tell if they're proper, legal entrances, and the parking can be difficult. Though to be clear, the trails were fine to walk on and weren't overgrown. At any rate, the trailhead is right next to a school, and across the street from another school. It's unclear whether parking in either of those lots is allowed or not.

Unnamed to Ridge Trail

There’s a gate at the trailhead with a sign telling you who isn't allowed up the trail (dogs, bikes, motor vehicles, etc.). Once past the gate, the trail, a wide double track that appears to be an old fire road, goes steeply up through the trees and rises rapidly above the school. After the first steep bit, the trail eases up and then goes steep again up the last 3/10s of a mile and ends on the ridge. The side of the mountain is mostly grasslands, with a few thumbs of rock poking up, along with plenty of wildflowers. Interestingly, it feels as if you could get lost in the folds of the ridges and valleys on the side of the mountain. You can see city the whole time but as soon as you're out of the trees there's a feeling of separation from the urban environment. There is supposed to be a secret waterfall a couple of ridges south of the trail, but, from what I've read, it's difficult to get to and only flows right after a good, solid rain. I haven’t seen it myself, I don’t think it’s a good idea to be traipsing around off-trail.

Ridge Trail and finish

The unnamed trail dead ends into the Ridge Trail and you have big views all the way around. For this loop, I turned right on the ridge and went down the Ridge Trail for about a mile to the next unnamed spur trail that dropped back off the mountain towards South San Francisco. It's another nice, if steep, trail that has plenty of green grass, folds of the earth, and butterflies. At the lower end, it runs along a fence guarding a big 'ol water tank, and you have to do some squirrely things to get around it and onto the road.

To complete the loop back to the beginning, I had to walk through this residential area on the north side of Hillside Blvd. Easy but uninspiring.