February 02, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

Open space district's guidebook is a winner

by Michael Closson

The San Francisco Bay Area is blessed with more publicly-owned open space than any other American metropolitan region. Within an hour's drive there are about 1 million acres of public parklands and open space preserves owned by an array of federal, state, regional, county and municipal entities.

Preservation of all this open land did not occur without a good deal of planning and effort - including a number of pitched battles with development interests. Over the past century, thousands of farsighted citizens who treasured the natural beauty of our region worked tirelessly to keep large swaths of land in an undeveloped state.

One of the entities that accomplished this is the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD). Formed in 1972, the district owns about 50,000 acres. To commemorate its 30-plus years of open space preservation, the district recently published an excellent guidebook to its preserves. Although billed as a "trail guidebook," the hefty 384-page publication is in reality a comprehensive overview of the preserves, their histories and their current management. The book was written by David Weintraub, author of three other guides to hiking in this region: "Monterey Bay Trails," "East Bay Trails," and "North Bay Trails."

The foreword, written by Weekly Editor Jay Thorwaldson, captures the allure of the foothills - their early appeal to homesteaders, lumbermen and bootleggers and more recently to housing developers and environmentalists. He recounts that as a journalist in the 1960s and '70s he covered the growing tension between housing developers and those who desired to preserve the foothills for future generations.

Each of the 24 preserves has a chapter, commencing with a discussion of the preserve's human history and its other highlights such as the birds, animals and wildflowers likely to be encountered there, interesting rock formations, archeological sites, and the views from its summits. Then it launches into the hike descriptions - in most cases one or two per preserve.

There is something for everyone in the hikes highlighted by the book. Short and easy strolls can be found in the district's two Bayshore preserves -- Ravenswood and Stevens Creek plus at Picchetti Ranch, Los Trancos and several others in the foothills. Moderate-length hikes are featured on many of the preserves and several longer and more strenuous routes are profiled as well, for example at El Corte Madera and Purisima Creek Redwoods.

Every hike is described in two ways. First there is a box containing a trail map that notes the hike's length, approximate time, rating (from easy to difficult), directions to the trailhead, facilities available, highlights to be found on the trail, and access for dogs, bicycles and horses. (Twenty-two of the preserves allow horse riding, 17 allow biking, and hiking with leashed dogs is permitted in nine of them.)

Second, there is a more detailed description of each hike including man-made and natural sights to be seen - such as seasonal wildflower displays, earthquake faults, trail junctions, and links to longer hikes.

To help check the accuracy of the book's hiking descriptions and helpfulness on the trail, I enlisted six of my friends to consult it while hiking the preserves. I hiked in seven of the preserves and collectively we hiked in 12 of them during January. Without exception, we found the book to be helpful and informative.

Bart Westcott hiked on Long Ridge and reported that "the description of the route was quite accurate and provided an easy-to-follow account of the trail without being overly detailed. The notes on the trees and plants were great." His wife Nancy added that she was "impressed by the organization and efficiency of the information layout. It's really easy to get a quick low down on a trail you're interested in."

There were some minor complaints. Laura Stec enjoyed her hike at La Honda Creek but felt a clearer description would have prevented her from getting lost. She also discovered an unmentioned wonderful place for a "romantic picnic" but perhaps that's the kind of place to discover on one's own.

My long jaunt at Sierra Azul (Blue Mountains) south of Los Gatos went beyond the bounds of the profiled hike and exemplifies the one gripe I have about the book as a hiking guide. It does not contain full maps of every preserve from which one can get an overview of the scene. This is something of a problem for vigorous hikers. The hike-specific maps of the routes highlighted in the book are excellent.

But, since the average length of these hikes is 4.1 miles, they frequently depict only a portion of the preserve in question. If an individual is interested in taking a longer hike, exploring another trail, or linking to a trail in another preserve or park, he or she must download a map from the district's Web site or hope to find one at the trailhead.

Two concluding chapters describe the district's public programs and activities, plus its efforts to effectively manage its diverse and far-flung lands. All of the district's properties have experienced human touch. This includes logging, mining, cattle ranching, farming and homesteading. Hence, a good deal of the district's attention is devoted to restoring its lands to a semblance of their original grandeur. This work involves protecting endangered species, eradicating or at least controlling invasive plants, removing feral pigs and combating sudden oak death.

Despite the minor flaws, "Peninsula Tales and Trails" is a real tour de force. It is a celebration of the existence of a wonderful network of open space preserves and the great work the District's staff and its many supporters have done preserving this land for future generations. Indeed, the district is making manifest Wallace Stegner's exhortation of several decades ago:

"To try to save for everyone, for the hostile and indifferent as well as the committed, some of the health that flows down across the green ridges from the Skyline, and some of the beauty and refreshment of spirit that are still available to any resident of the valley who has a moment, and the wit, to lift up his eyes unto the hills."

Michael Closson is executive director of Acterra, a Palo Alto-based environmental organization.

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