Updated

Updated · KQED · Aug 21

San Mateo Opens 6-Mile Skyline Trail, Completing Key Segment of 500-Mile Ridge Loop

Updated

Updated · KQED · Aug 21

San Mateo Opens 6-Mile Skyline Trail, Completing Key Segment of 500-Mile Ridge Loop

Q: With only 22 parking spots for a major new Bay Area trail, how fierce will the battle for access and permits actually become?

Access will likely be tight at peak times, but not a full-scale permit war. The real bottleneck is parking, not the permit itself. SFPUC says the permit is free, available online through a simple process, valid for the calendar year, and covers up to six people. Agency materials also indicate permits can be obtained for immediate use, even at the trailhead where cell service is available. That makes the permit more of a management tool than a hard cap on visitation. The pressure point is the lot: 22 standard spaces, plus five trailer spaces and two ADA spaces, for a highly anticipated new trail on the Peninsula with rare access, big views and a connection to the Bay Area Ridge Trail. On opening weekends and clear-weather mornings, those spaces could fill quickly, especially because the route is 12 miles round-trip and likely to attract hikers, runners, cyclists and equestrians who stay for hours. Still, the access fight may be less severe than the headline number suggests. The trail is open daily from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., spreads demand across a long day, and has a transit option: SamTrans Route 294 stops near Highway 92 and Skyline Boulevard, accessible from Caltrain’s Hillsdale station. Carpooling should also ease pressure because one permit covers small groups. So expect crowded parking, early arrivals and the busiest demand in the first weeks after opening. But because permits are easy and free, the scramble should center on getting a space, not getting permission.

3 articles · Updated · KQED · Aug 21

Monday’s opening gives the public access to the 6-mile Skyline Watershed Ridge Trail, a new out-and-back route through SFPUC watershed land south of Highway 92.
The trail completes a key stretch of the Bay Area Ridge Trail, a 500-mile regional loop that is about 75% finished and is intended to circle the Bay Area.
SFPUC is using free online permits to balance access with habitat protection in a landscape that supports three major reservoirs and a high concentration of rare and endangered species.
Visitors need a free permit valid for the year, and the small trailhead lot has just 22 spaces; the route is open daily from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. for hikers, runners, cyclists and equestrians.
The opening also expands public education about the Hetch Hetchy-fed water system serving 2.7 million residents, while work continues on a southern connection to Purisima Creek Redwoods Preserve and more parking.