Phleger Estate is a park outside Woodside, next to Huddart County Park, at the southern tip of the Golden Gate National Parks. The forest here was once heavily logged, and the National Park Service says you can still see century-old redwood stumps and the remains of steam mills. Second-growth redwoods and firs are growing back along its creeks and trails.
How it became a park
In 1990, Mary Elena Phleger, who had been widowed in 1984, offered the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) a chance to keep her family's estate in one piece. With only five paid staff and a tight deadline, POST ran a fundraising and lobbying campaign. Congress agreed to provide matching funds if POST could raise half the cost.
POST raised $5 million from Save the Redwoods League and private donors. Then, in what the park service calls a "buy or bust" move, it put up its entire $3.5 million reserve plus proceeds from selling the Phleger home. Wikipedia says POST bought the land in 1991 for $25 million. The estate became a public park in early 1995 and was dedicated on April 29, 1995.
Logging past
According to Wikipedia, the land was once part of Rancho Cañada de Raymundo. Lumberman Willard Whipple hauled logs to the port at Redwood City along what is now Whipple Avenue, and he built a steam-powered mill on the estate in 1852.
On the trails
The park covers about 1,084 acres between Cañada Road and Skyline Boulevard. Wikipedia says access is limited to hikers and, on some trails, horseback riders. In the lower part of the park, the Miramontes Trail follows West Union Creek, while the Lonely Trail climbs steeply to Skyline. Watch for banana slugs and Coast Range newts.
Getting in
Wikipedia says the main access is from the parking area in Huddart County Park off Kings Mountain Road, and there is also a trailhead on Skyline Boulevard. The land to the east is private, so stay on park trails.