San Bruno Mountain Park

Hike Review:

• I hiked the Summit Loop trail.

• The loop was a single track trail that afforded great views of San Francisco, as well as the other surrounding cities.

• I hiked the loop trail in a counter-clockwise direction, and I would recommend that orientation for others.

• I only saw one other person on the trail (who was a runner).

• It was raining pretty constantly for the first 45 min or so. Near the top, the rain turned into small hail.

• Even with the rain, the trail never was too muddy. Thank god for hard packed dirt trails.

• There was little tree coverage. I’m going to bet that on windy days, this trail can be a bit exposed.

What I Learned

• My waterproof shoes, which I had walked 100+ miles on, were no longer waterproof :(

Media Consumed

• Sandy Hook

What Happened?

3.5 miles, 1 hr 31 mins, 783 ft of ascent

I hadn’t had a meaty hiking day in a few weeks, so I decided to knock off this trail on my way to Oakland. I had first wanted to hike this mountain when I spotted its imposing form from Daly City. After a few years, I had pretty much forgotten it, but not my mapping software.

I arrived at the park entrance, paid the parking fee, then found a great spot near the trailhead. There were only a few other cars, but given how much it was raining, I was not surprised.

The hike was nice and I found it interesting that there could be so much green and solace in a place surrounded on all sides by millions of people. Thank goodness for environmental laws allowing places like this to exist!

The views were pretty—there were canyons, hills, and of course, the surrounding suburbs. At the top, the views got even better (except for the communication towers, which isn’t beautiful to me)—especially of San Francisco. The hike down to the car was quick and I headed off to Oakland.

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