El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve covers 2,908 acres on the western slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains in San Mateo County. Locals call it Skeggs, after Skeggs Point, Wikipedia says. It has more than 34 miles of multiuse trails. Mountain bikers love it, but hikers and riders on horseback have plenty of room too.
A logging past
The name means "cut wood" in Spanish. The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District says the area had up to 15 sawmills in the late 1800s. Heavy logging ended around 1900, and selective logging went on until Midpen protected the land in the late 1980s. Many old logging roads are now trails, and some giant stumps still show springboard notches. Second-growth redwoods have filled the canyons.
Highlights
- Tafoni: From the Tafoni Trail you can see sandstone carved into caves and honeycomb shapes by weather over hundreds of years. View them from the observation deck and don't climb on them.
- Old-growth redwood: One giant survivor stands on the Timberview Trail near the Giant Salamander Trail. Midpen says it measures about 50 feet around at the base.
- Vista point: A short detour on the Fir Trail leads to views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the coastal hills and the Pacific.
- Oljon Trail: It opened in 2019 as part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail and finished an 18-year watershed protection program.
The Resolution crash
San Mateo County's deadliest plane crash happened here on Oct. 29, 1953. A DC-6 named the Resolution, flying from Australia, was approaching San Francisco in thick fog when it hit a ridge. All eight crew members and 11 passengers died, including the American pianist William Kapell. The Resolution Trail is named for the victims and has a memorial plaque. Please leave any artifacts where you find them.
Nearby
Across Skyline Boulevard stands Methuselah, a redwood about 1,800 years old. Midpen says it is the largest redwood in the Santa Cruz Mountains outside Big Basin. It sits on California Water Service land that is open to the public. The parking area is west of Highway 35.