Huddart County Park

Located off of Kings Mountain Road, this park offers many trails within three dominant environments. Evergreen forest covers most of the park, along with redwoods near the streams and gullies, and chaparral areas that are hot and dry. The Phleger Estate is a newly opened area consisting of three trails with stately redwoods along the smooth dirt path. The trailhead past the entrance station has signs labeled to guide you to the gate. For 1.4 miles you will be descending down the Miramontes Trail, then come to a beautiful signpost marking the Raymundo and Mt. Redondo Trails. Both of these connect to the Lonely Trail, which is a steep ascent (over 1800 ft.) to Skyline Blvd. The entrance path is in very good condition, with very few loose stones or tree roots, but becomes more primitive as you progress past the signpost. The entire trail is over 8 miles. Very few splashes of sunlight can get through this heavily wooded forest, so it is usually cool and shaded.

The roads to Woodside are so full of cyclists that you might feel left out of the fun if you just came for a run. One of my favorite workouts is to park near Sawyer Camp Trail, (Skyline and Black Springs Road) or Edgewood Road and Cañada, and bike to Huddart Park. Sawyer Camp is approximately 13 miles from the Huddart Park entrance, and Skyline Blvd. has beautiful views of the watershed as you progress to Cañada Road. From the Sawyer Camp entrance, take a right on Skyline and then a left on Highway 92 (Ralston). Bear right on Cañada Road. Cañada Road is generally flat, smooth, fast, and visually pleasing with horse corrals and a small vineyard along the bike trail. You will pass the Filoli Historical House and Gardens, but without a reservation, you have to settle for a quick virtual tour to see this delightful turn-of-the-century country estate.

If pressed for time, park your car at the Woodside School on Woodside Road. You will still have about 1.5 miles to warm up before attacking the relatively steep, (1570 ft, 4.2M) Kings Mt. Road. (Huddart Park is located before the steep part!) Be sure to ride Kings Mt. Road at least once, the experience of pedaling through the canopy of trees, with the sunlight filtering through, and listening to the water runoff cannot be captured in a car. Pack your running gear in a backpack, you can lock up your bike and belongings around a tree across from the ranger station. Call first to find out if a ranger is there, they will watch the bike for you. On the return, there may be some strong headwinds, especially on Skyline Blvd. This brick will give you a great hill and tempo workout for the bike and run.

Here is a ride to Kings Mountain and Skyline starting from Palo Alto.

Here is a more difficult ride, including San Gregorio and Tunitas, aka "Tendinitis Creek" Road. The delightful scenery, redwoods, farmlands and beaches make this challenging loop well worth the effort. Tunitas Creek climbs 2,000 ft. and is 7M long. Start in Woodside if you prefer. Harvey Chock, CA AIDS Ride leader, sums up this ride pretty well:

I have gotten several calls about the discrepancy in the training ride about my Tunitas Creek ride. I described the ride as "Hard with two climbs" but the Ride Difficulty/Pace section of the schedule describes the ride as "Moderate".

Here's the scoop...the ride is hard, not moderate. The ride will ascend from Woodside to Skyline via Old La Honda Road (hard climb #1, 3.5 miles long, ~1500' climb). From there it's downhill for a few miles to the town of La Honda. Soon after, we start a short, moderately hard climb on Pescadero Road before descending to the town of Pescadero (lunch stop). We continue to San Gregorio and Tunitas Creek Road via Stage Road (three more moderately hard, but short hills on the way...very scenic). We return to Woodside via Tunitas Creek Road (hard climb #2 w/2000+' of elevation change & six miles of climbing, three miles of which can invoke dark thoughts...still, it's manageable), then zoom downhill back to Woodside via King's Mountain Road (a four mile yee-ha!-type descent).

For those who do the ride, see if you agree with the following:

My Pain Factor Ratings* for the ride (averaged over full ride):

Full Ride: 4.5 (hard section of Tunitas Creek rates about 4.9 or 5.0) Short Version of Ride: 3.8

* Key to Pain Factor Ratings (PFR) for Ride Options:

1 = (yawn) Wake me up when we get there

2 = OK, OK I'm awake!

3 = Sweat has broken, hair still in place.

4 = Isn't (pant) there (pant) a shortcut?

5 = Where…does…that…ride…leader….live? I'll….find…(him/her)…..I swear and, sweet vengeance will be mine….ALL MINE….Ha (gasp), ha (pant), ha (thud!).

6 = sell bike…take up lawn bowling

Facilities: Restrooms and water available at the park entrance only. $4.00 fee per vehicle. (415) 363-4020.

Tips:

Plan your route on the map at the trailhead. There are so many trail cuts you may forget the most direct way to return. Leave a marker to identify what trail you chose, and each cut taken. Huddart County Park Trail Map.

Yield to equestrians, you don't have much choice.
Take a Camebak and an energy bar. Remember that the last miles to the finish are uphill, if you biked up, you will want to enjoy the winding descent to your car.

View a map of the Phlegar Estate.

Directions:

From Highway 280, exit to Woodside Rd. (Highway 84).
Proceed west on Woodside to Kings Mt. Road, turn right.
Park entrance is on the right.

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