Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve is a public recreation area in the Santa Cruz Mountains, San Mateo County in northern California. It is managed by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD).
The nature reserve covers 366 acres (1.48 km2) with 6 miles (9.7 km) of trails with elevation changes of around 500 feet (150 m). Trails provide views of San Francisco Bay and undeveloped hillsides. The reserve hosts the source of Cordilleras Creek. [1]
The 293 acres (1.19 km2) that now comprise Pulgas were formerly a tuberculosis sanitarium owned by the City of San Francisco, the Hassler Health Farm. MROSD purchased the land in 1983. Buildings were demolished in 1985, and most of the non-native plants have been removed, but there are still some old retaining walls and steps off Hassler Trail.
Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve is open from dawn to 1/2 hour after dusk. Dogs are permitted on leash, and off-leash at the large off-leash dog area. All trails are open to dogs, but leash rules apply except in the marked off-leash area. No bikes or horses.
Formed in 1972 by voter initiative, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD) is a non-enterprise special district in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has acquired and preserved a regional green belt of open space land and provides opportunities for ecologically-sensitive public enjoyment and education.
Los Trancos Open Space Preserve is a 274-acre (1.11 km2) open space preserve, located in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, California, near Los Altos Hills, California. The preserve contains about 5 miles (8 km) of hiking trails, of which 2.1 miles (3.4 km) are open to equestrians, and none are open to bicycles.
Windy Hill Open Space Preserve is a regional park located in San Mateo County, California and operated by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD). It is readily identifiable from the flatlands of the South Bay, as it is the only "naked" part of the peninsula range.
Saratoga Gap Open Space Preserve is a 1540-acre regional park located near Saratoga Gap in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Santa Clara County, California. The preserve is owned and operated by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. The preserve contains about 2 miles (3 km) of hiking trails, which are open to equestrians and bicycles.
Black Mountain is a summit on Monte Bello Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains of west Santa Clara County, California, south of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, and west of Cupertino; it is within the Palo Alto city limits though not near the developed part of the city. It is located on the border between Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve and Monte Bello Open Space Preserve, with the summit located in the former. Early Spanish explorers commonly named tree- or chaparral-covered summits which look black in the distance Loma Prieta, from the Spanish . The Spanish also called the middle portion of the Santa Cruz Mountains the Sierra Morena meaning, extending from Half Moon Bay Road south to a gap at Lexington Reservoir, and which includes a summit called Sierra Morena. There are over 100 "Black Mountains" in California.
The Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve is located on the western slopes of historic Kings Mountain in Woodside, California. This 4,471-acre (1,809 ha) preserve was established with a $2 million gift from the Save the Redwoods League.
The Picchetti Winery, also known as the Picchetti Ranch, is a winery located at 13100 Montebello Rd., Cupertino, California in the Picchetti Ranch Open Space Preserve. The Picchetti brothers, Secondo and Vincenzo, for whom the ranch was named, were among the earliest settlers to plant grapes on this ridge, which they named "Monte Bello" or "beautiful mountain." This ridge was later to become one of Santa Clara County's important vineyard areas.
Rancho San Antonio County Park and Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve are a conjoined public recreational area in the Santa Cruz Mountains, in the northwest quadrant of Santa Clara County, California. The County Park is bordered by Los Altos with some parts of the eastern part of the County Park in western Cupertino. The Open Space Preserve is on the west side of the County Park, also bordered by Los Altos Hills, Monte Bello Open Space Preserve, and the Permanente Quarry.
La Honda Creek is a 7 miles (11 km) long stream on the Pacific slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains and is a tributary of San Gregorio Creek. From its source near Bear Gulch Road and Skyline Boulevard (CA 35) in San Mateo County, California, La Honda Creek's water flow south to its confluence with Alpine Creek to form San Gregorio Creek in La Honda, and thence to the Pacific Ocean.
El Corte de Madera Creek is a small river in the Santa Cruz Mountains, San Mateo County, northern California. It is a tributary of San Gregorio Creek.
Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve is managed by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District in Santa Clara County, California. It is approximately 19,300 acres (7,800 ha) in area. The preserve is named for the Sierra Azul or "Blue Mountains", the name the colonizing Spanish used for the half of the Santa Cruz Mountains south of today's California Highway 17.
Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve is a regional park located in the Santa Cruz Mountains in San Mateo County, California along the San Francisco Peninsula. Its 3,137 acres (1,269 ha) and 10.4 miles (16.7 km) of trails are managed by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.
Monte Bello Open Space Preserve is a 3,133-acre (12.68 km2) open space preserve, located near Palo Alto in the Santa Cruz Mountains, in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, California, United States. The preserve encompasses the upper Stevens Creek watershed in the valley between Monte Bello Ridge and Skyline Ridge. "Monte Bello" means "beautiful mountain" in Italian, and refers to Black Mountain which is the highest part of Montebello Ridge. The straight valley of upper Stevens Creek is also the rift valley of the San Andreas Fault.
Cordilleras Creek is a 3.8-mile-long (6.1 km) northward-flowing stream originating in the Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. It forms the border between San Carlos and Redwood City in San Mateo County, California, United States before entering Smith Slough where its waters course to Steinberger Slough and thence to San Francisco Bay.
San Mateo County's Sam McDonald Park is located between La Honda and Loma Mar and is operated by the San Mateo County Department of Parks. The park is 867 acres (3.51 km2) of redwood forest, mixed woods and open meadows. Trails climb up to a ridgeline with views across the Pescadero Creek valley, Butano Ridge, and the Pacific Ocean. The park includes Heritage Grove and borders Pescadero Creek County Park through which it connects to Memorial County Park, Portola Redwoods State Park, and Big Basin Redwoods State Park. Horseback riding is popular here, and many use Jack Brook Horse Camp.
The La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve is a publicly accessible 6,142-acre open space reserve in San Mateo County, California, part of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. It opened to the public in November 2017. The preserve was established in 1984. It was for years the largest of the open space preserve in the county not open to the public.
Long Ridge Open Space Preserve is a 2,035 acre open space preserve along Long Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Foothills Open Space Preserve is a 212-acre open space preserve on Page Mill Road in Palo Alto, California. The land for the preserve was gifted to the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District in 1974. The preserve's only trail is .4 miles and leads to a hilltop with views of the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Bear Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve is a public open space preserve in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The preserve is located along both sides of Bear Creek Road, west of State Route 17 and Lexington Reservoir, and mostly north and east of the Skyline Boulevard and Summit Road sections of State Route 35. It surrounds the Presentation Center, a conference and retreat facility run by the Sisters of Presentation.
Hassler Health Farm, formerly known as San Francisco Health Farm between 1927 and 1931, was a tuberculosis sanatorium for patients of the San Francisco Bay Area, owned by the City of San Francisco. It was located in a remote part of San Mateo County, California, in what is today San Carlos, until 1964. After the discovery of antibiotics, tuberculosis became a reduced threat, leading the building to be converted into a hospital for the poor. It was closed in 1972 and sat empty until 1985, when the buildings were demolished. Today, the grounds are home to the 366-acre Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve.
Coordinates: 37°28′42″N122°17′24″W / 37.47833°N 122.29000°W
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