Chickadee
Trail,
Huddart County Park,
San Mateo County Parks and Recreation,
San Mateo County
In brief:
3/4 mile loop hike on an all-access trail.
Getting there:
From Interstate 280 in San Mateo County, exit Woodside Road (CA 84). Drive west
about 1.5 miles, then turn right onto Kings Mountain Road. Drive about 2 miles
on this narrow road (watch for cyclists, motorcyclists, and deer), then turn right
into the park. Once past the entry kiosk, look for the Chickadee Trailhead on
the right side of the road.
Trailhead details:
Two designated handicapped parking spots; more general parking across the street.
$5 entrance fee (self registration if kiosk unattended). Maps available at the
entry kiosk. Phone next to trailhead. No accessible restrooms near the trailhead,
but there are are restrooms near the picnic areas. There is no direct public transportation
to the park.
Gas, food, lodging:
Gas, restaurants, and picnic supplies at Woodside, about 3 miles away. The only
overnight option in the park is youth group camping.
Rules:
Most trails are open to equestrians and hikers only. A few are designated hiking
only. No bikes on trails. No dogs permitted.
Distance, category, and difficulty:
This 0.7 mile loop hike is very easy. Trailhead elevation is about 760
feet. The park's highest point is about 2000 feet. This hike is nearly flat, with
only about 40 feet in elevation change.
The Official Story:
CSMP's
Huddart page.
Park office 650-851-1210
Map Choices:
• Use AAA's Palo Alto/Redwood City map to get to the park.
• Map
from CSMP
• The Trail Center's Trail Map of the Central Peninsula is a good
guide to this hike (order
this map from Amazon.com).
• Tom Taber's The Santa Cruz Mountain Trail Book has a simple map
(order
this book from Amazon.com).
• Peninsula Trails, by Rusmore, Spangle, and Crowder, has a simple
map and trail descriptions (order
this book from Amazon.com).
• View 28 photos from
the featured hike.
Huddart's Chickadee Trail is 
a
wonderful 0.75 mile all-access loop through a variety of bay area plants. Parents
hiking with children may find Chickadee a great venue for nature study. (Posts
along the way identify plants and the county presumably has a brochure with which
to follow along, but I haven't seen it.) There are a few benches along the path
where you can rest and soak in the sunshine or shade. The surface, compacted earth,
is uneven in place, and the one short hill may make this loop difficult for a
solo wheelchair user.
A few feet from the parking area, Chickadee splits.
If you head right (counterclockwise) the trail has one short slightly steep downhill
section, while if you head left (clockwise) you'll face the same ascent uphill.
I went left and immediately began enjoying the warm spicy aromas of chaparral
plants. You may see madrone, chamise, manzanita, toyon, coyote brush, ceanothus,
and California coffeeberry. Poison oak, common throughout the loop, is easy to
pick out in the late summer and autumn, when its leaves turn red. Chickadee winds
levelly south, offering partial views east through breaks in the vegetation. A
bridge crosses the lower portion of a seasonal gorge, then the trail turns west,
climbs easily through oak and California bay, and sweeps north through some redwoods.
A second bridge crosses the gorge again. Some Douglas fir accompany oaks and California
bay. Chickadee Trail drifts back into chaparral. Look for more toyon, coffeeberry,
and pitcher sage. At 0.75 mile, Chickadee Trail joins the other end of its loop
and returns to the trailhead.
Total distance: about 0.75 mile
Last hiked: Tuesday, September 5, 2000
Go to Bay Area Hiker Home page
a
wonderful 0.75 mile all-access loop through a variety of bay area plants. Parents
hiking with children may find Chickadee a great venue for nature study. (Posts
along the way identify plants and the county presumably has a brochure with which
to follow along, but I haven't seen it.) There are a few benches along the path
where you can rest and soak in the sunshine or shade. The surface, compacted earth,
is uneven in place, and the one short hill may make this loop difficult for a
solo wheelchair user.