Los
Trancos Open Space Preserve,
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District,
San Mateo & Santa Clara Counties
In brief:
3 mile follows an interpretive guide to earthquakes and the San Andreas Fault.
Hike passes through pretty, quiet woods.
Getting there:
From Interstate 280 in San Mateo County, exit Page Mill Road. Drive west about
7 miles, and turn right into the preserve. (From the junction of CA 35 and Page
Mill Road, the entrance is a little over a mile downhill to the east.)
Trailhead details:
No entrance or parking fees. Dirt lot holds about 20 cars, and there's more parking
right across the street in Monte Bello's lot. Pit toilet across the street at
the Monte Bello trailhead. There's one designated handicapped parking spot, but
trails are not well suited to wheelchairs. Maps available at the information signboard
(pick up the Los Trancos, rather than the South Skyline map, if it's available).
Nearest pay phone is about 4.5 miles east on Page Mill Road, at Foothills Park.
There is no direct public transportation to the preserve.
Gas, food, and lodging:
Gas, stores, and restaurants at the junction of 84 and 35, or on Alpine Road,
a few miles north on 280. No camping.
Rules:
One trail is open to equestrians and hikers. The others are hiking only. No bikes.
Dogs are not permitted.
Distance, category, and difficulty:
This 3 mile loop hike is easy. The trailhead is at about 2100 feet. All
trails descend from there (to a low preserve elevation of about 1700 feet) and
then climb back to the trailhead. There is one possible medium length hike, but
the other loops are short. The featured hike has a total elevation gain of about
580 feet.
The Official Story:
MROSD's
Los Trancos page.
MROSD field office 650-691-1200.
Map Choices:
• Use AAA's San Francisco Bay Region map to get there.
• Map
from MROSD
• 
Peninsula Tales
and Trails, by David Weintraub (order
this book from Amazon.com) has an overview of the preserve, descriptions of
hikes, and simple maps.
• Afoot and Afield: San Francisco Bay Area, by David Weintraub (order
this book from Amazon.com) has a great map and descriptions of a Los Trancos
hike.
• The Trail Center's Trail Map of the Southern Peninsula shows the
Los Trancos trail system.
• Peninsula Trails, by Jean Rusmore, has a simple map and trail descriptions
(order
this book from Amazon.com).
• Tom Taber's The Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Book has a simple map
and preserve description (order
this book from Amazon.com).
• Geology Trails
of Northern California, by Robin C. Johnson and Dot Lofstrom (order
this book from Amazon.com) has a nice geological description of this preserve.
• View 69 photos from the featured
hike (June 2000).
• View 32 photos from the featured
hike (August 2001).
Living in an active earthquake region, 
there
are few of us who remain unaware of the many faults in the bay area. Some people
prefer not to dwell on the inevitable risks, but others choose to learn more about
earthquake geology. There are two places in the bay area with interpretative earthquake
trails for hikers, both on the San Andreas Fault. Point Reyes National Seashore
hosts their Earthquake Trail at the Bear Valley Visitor Center, while the Midpeninsula
Regional Open Space District created the San Andreas Fault Trail at the Los Trancos
Open Space Preserve. Los Trancos' hiking-only trail features 9 stations and an
accompanying brochure, which instruct about sag ponds, benches, and other earthquake
phenomena. This is a small preserve, but you can combine the easy earthquake circuit
with two other loops at Los Trancos, for hikes from 2 to 3 miles. There's one
out-and-back hike via the Page Mill Trail, but as that trail edges along backyards
and Page Mill Road, that's not a hike I would recommend.
From the trailhead, walk to the west 
edge
of the parking lot and look for the start of the San Andreas Fault Trail.
The narrow path, open to hikers only, climbs a few feet to a viewpoint, and station
1 of the earthquake trail. From the vista you can see south past Monte Bello Open
Space Preserve (dominated by Black Mountain), to Mount Umunhum and Loma Prieta
(23 miles away). The San Andreas Fault divides the American and Pacific Plates
here, and the seismic activity on the fault zone has altered the surrounding landscape.
The sag pond north of the parking lot was created by the 1906 earthquake. Continue
to station 2, near a stone bench with great views east to Mount Diablo, and north
to downtown San Francisco
and Mount Tam. Follow the path downhill through gooseberry and coyote brush, cross
a meadow where you may see yellow mariposa lily, paintbrush, California poppy,
clarkia, larkspur, owl's clover, and brodiaea blooming in late spring, and then
arrive at an unsigned junction at 0.16 mile. Bear left, and a few steps
later, at a signed junction, continue straight on the San Andreas Fault Trail.
Thick foliage lines the path, including young madrone,
blue elderberry, toyon, California coffeeberry, creambush, coyote brush, poison
oak, coast live oak, canyon live oak, California bay, and ferns. At 0.43 mile,
you'll reach station 3, and a signed junction. Double back to the left on the
Fault Trail.
The deeply shaded trail descends gently through California
bay, oaks, creambush, wood rose, and hazelnut. Station 4 showcases probably the
most famous and photographed feature at Los Trancos, a reproduction of a fenceline
that moved 3 feet to the northwest during the 1906 quake. After a few more steps,
at 0.46 mile, the trail splits at a signed junction. You can go either direction,
but the earthquake tour progresses clockwise. Bear left.
You may see fairy lanterns nestled close to the ground
in spring. In summer, rosehips add
a blast of red to the understory. Black oaks mingle with the other trees. The
San Andreas Fault Trail continues through to station 9. When you reach the
formerly encountered junction, at 1.13 miles, bear left, and return to the
previously encountered junction with Franciscan Loop Trail at 1.16 miles. Turn
left onto Franciscan Loop Trail.
The hiking-only trail ducks under a few large California
bays and a handful of huge old oaks, then gently descends to a signed junction
at 1.18 miles. Page Mill Trail sets out to the right. Continue left on Franciscan
Loop Trail.
Once a meadow has been bisected, Franciscan Loop Trail
enters shade and follows along Los Trancos Creek. You may seen columbine, woodland
star, baneberry, snowberry, honeysuckle, and bluewitch nightshade languishing
beneath oaks and California bay. Hazelnut shrubs are plentiful, and produce nuts
in late spring. Staples for squirrels, you have to look hard to 
find
the nuts (in fact, if they're still on a branch in early summer, they probably
are not yet ripe). After a short, well-graded descent, you'll cross a creek (more
like a swamp), which is jungle-like in the summer, on a volunteer-built causeway.
Tangles of blackberry, tall poison hemlock, California coffeberry, snowberry,
and elderberry flourish in the damp spot. At 1.44 miles, Franciscan Loop Trail
meets a connector to Page Mill Trail at a signed junction. Continue straight
on Franciscan Loop Trail.
Continuing to descend along Los Trancos Creek, the trail
is heavily shaded by California bays and a few big-leaf maple. A dramatic rock
reef makes an unexpected appearance; the trail passes through the middle of the
formation, then meets the connector to Lost Creek Loop Trail at a signed junction
at 1.60 miles. (If you'd like to shorten this hike, go left, continuing on Franciscan
Loop Trail.) Stay to the right (straight really), and after a few steps,
bear right onto Lost Creek
Loop Trail.
This narrow hiking only path cuts through a tangle
of underbrush, then drops down to a boardwalk over a wet area. In summer, you
may find berries on a currant bush off to the right. Upon reentering the woods,
quiet shade prevails. A large shrub of pitcher sage puts forth blossoms in the
spring, accompanied by ferns, poison oak, snakeroot, hound's tongue, and giant
trillium. At 1.80 miles, Lost Creek Loop Trail meets Page Mill Trail at a signed
junction. Turn left.
The two trails run together, then at 1.90 miles, Page
Mill Trail breaks off to the right. Continue straight on Lost Creek Loop Trail.
Thimbleberries are profligate along the high banks of
the creek, as are seep monkeyflower, ferns, and baneberry, which has bright red
berries in the summer, but unlike edible thimbleberry, is poisonous. Tanoaks make
an appearance, and soon you might notice pine needles scattered across the trail,
indicating the presence of Douglas firs. The quiet of the woods may be broken
solely by birds and the 
constant
gurgle of water. Lost Creek Loop Trail draws near to Los Trancos Creek, than runs
along the banks for a few feet, leaving the creek to begin an ascent. The path
contours around a hill, then climbs some more. In the late spring, look for spotted
coralroot among downed oak leaves. Some madrone and big-leaf maple provide color
along the trail in fall; maples color and then shed their leaves, while madrones
drop strips of their bark, and produce large, bright berries later in winter.
Lost Creek Loop Trail ends at a previously encountered junction at 2.50 miles;
turn right onto Franciscan Loop Trail.
The trail drops down to cross Los Trancos Creek
on a bridge, then travels through a small stand of Douglas fir as it resumes climbing.
Overall the grade is easy, although there a few short steep sections. Soon Franciscan
Loop Trail makes a level return to the chaparral-bordered grassland. You may glimpse
more fairy lanterns in the spring, or clarkia, yarrow, and yellow mariposa lily
blossoms that can persist into early summer. At 2.95 miles, Franciscan Loop Trail
ends at a previously encountered junction. Continue to the right (the unsigned
common path straight ahead ends at the same place), following the sign back "to
Page Mill Parking."
Total distance: 3.03
miles
Last hiked: Friday, August 17, 2001
Go to Bay Area Hiker Home page
there
are few of us who remain unaware of the many faults in the bay area. Some people
prefer not to dwell on the inevitable risks, but others choose to learn more about
earthquake geology. There are two places in the bay area with interpretative earthquake
trails for hikers, both on the San Andreas Fault. Point Reyes National Seashore
hosts their Earthquake Trail at the Bear Valley Visitor Center, while the Midpeninsula
Regional Open Space District created the San Andreas Fault Trail at the Los Trancos
Open Space Preserve. Los Trancos' hiking-only trail features 9 stations and an
accompanying brochure, which instruct about sag ponds, benches, and other earthquake
phenomena. This is a small preserve, but you can combine the easy earthquake circuit
with two other loops at Los Trancos, for hikes from 2 to 3 miles. There's one
out-and-back hike via the Page Mill Trail, but as that trail edges along backyards
and Page Mill Road, that's not a hike I would recommend.
edge
of the parking lot and look for the start of the San Andreas Fault Trail.
The narrow path, open to hikers only, climbs a few feet to a viewpoint, and station
1 of the earthquake trail. From the vista you can see south past Monte Bello Open
Space Preserve (dominated by Black Mountain), to Mount Umunhum and Loma Prieta
(23 miles away). The San Andreas Fault divides the American and Pacific Plates
here, and the seismic activity on the fault zone has altered the surrounding landscape.
The sag pond north of the parking lot was created by the 1906 earthquake. Continue
to station 2, near a stone bench with great views east to Mount Diablo, and north
to downtown San Francisco
and Mount Tam. Follow the path downhill through gooseberry and coyote brush, cross
a meadow where you may see yellow mariposa lily, paintbrush, California poppy,
clarkia, larkspur, owl's clover, and brodiaea blooming in late spring, and then
arrive at an unsigned junction at 0.16 mile. Bear left, and a few steps
later, at a signed junction, continue straight on the San Andreas Fault Trail.
a blast of red to the understory. Black oaks mingle with the other trees. The
San Andreas Fault Trail continues through to station 9. When you reach the
formerly encountered junction, at 1.13 miles, bear left, and return to the
previously encountered junction with Franciscan Loop Trail at 1.16 miles. Turn
left onto Franciscan Loop Trail. 
find
the nuts (in fact, if they're still on a branch in early summer, they probably
are not yet ripe). After a short, well-graded descent, you'll cross a creek (more
like a swamp), which is jungle-like in the summer, on a volunteer-built causeway.
Tangles of blackberry, tall poison hemlock, California coffeberry, snowberry,
and elderberry flourish in the damp spot. At 1.44 miles, Franciscan Loop Trail
meets a connector to Page Mill Trail at a signed junction. Continue straight
on Franciscan Loop Trail. 
Loop Trail. 
constant
gurgle of water. Lost Creek Loop Trail draws near to Los Trancos Creek, than runs
along the banks for a few feet, leaving the creek to begin an ascent. The path
contours around a hill, then climbs some more. In the late spring, look for spotted
coralroot among downed oak leaves. Some madrone and big-leaf maple provide color
along the trail in fall; maples color and then shed their leaves, while madrones
drop strips of their bark, and produce large, bright berries later in winter.
Lost Creek Loop Trail ends at a previously encountered junction at 2.50 miles;
turn right onto Franciscan Loop Trail.