San Mateo County: Two Excellent Trails From Richard Katz's
Skating Unrinked book, published in paperback by HarperCollinsWest in 1994. Or was it '95? If you are not reading this on a screen, stop reading and head to www.Amazon.com. Thanx. Richard Katz = katz@frogojt.com. email
If you didn't really want to read a rollerskating trails book: Back to Richard Katz's Homepage
If you want to go back to the Table of Contents of Skating Unrinked, Back to TOC
Chapter sanmateo
San Mateo County: Two Excellent Trails
Highway 92 starts in Alameda County, crosses San Francisco Bay as the San Mateo Bridge, and runs all the way across San Mateo County on the way to the shores of Half Moon Bay. On its way across the county, Highway 92 intersects two first class rollerskating trails.
Where the San Mateo Bridge sets down to shore in Foster City, Highway 92 crosses an eight mile shoreline trail. The trail reaches from Coyote Point, which is up by the Airport, down past Little Coyote Point, just north of the San Mateo Bridge, to Sea Cloud Park in Foster City, several miles south of the bridge. Someday, this flat stretch of asphalt along the marshy tidelands will be connected with similar stretches of pavement all the way around San Francisco Bay to form the Bay Trail.
Several miles across San Mateo County, Highway 92 (nearly) crosses another exceptional skating trail, of a different sort altogether. Sawyer's Camp Trail is up in the hills, over six miles long, with lots of twists and turns and switchbacks, and a definite grade from beginning to end. At the south end, toward Pacifica, the trail is pretty tame, and an excellent choice for family outings. You can go four miles or more, and turn back anytime it feels like too much of a climb. At the north end, though, it's what you might call a challenge.
Suppose you have one or two members of your group who are just itching to try something challenging Well, dump them at the top of Sawyer's Camp Trail, up by Hillcrest Boulevard. Just inspect everybody's brake pads and let them have at it. It's fun. The rest of the group can drive to the tame end, and meet somewhere in the middle.
How to Get to the Shoreline Trail by Car from Interstate 880:
Exit from Interstate 880 at "San Mateo Bridge -- Highway 92 West". Highway 92 crosses San Francisco Bay as the San Mateo Bridge; on the Foster City side, it's called the J Arthur Younger Freeway. After crossing the Bay, take the first exit "Foster City Boulevard". The bottom of the offramp is Chess Drive; take a right on Chess, and then a left on Foster City Boulevard. Go two blocks, and park anywhere near the T-intersection of Foster City Boulevard and East Third Street. The trail is between you and the Bay, on a levee a few feet above you. There probably won't be anybody on it.
How to Continue on by Car to the South End of Sawyer's Camp Trail:
Retrace your steps back to Chess Drive and Highway 92 West. Take Highway 92 about six miles across town; go under Interstate 280, following signs for Half Moon Bay. After crossing I-280, Highway 92 twists to the north and then veers to the west. Just where 92 seems to be taking you off to Half Moon Bay, take a right onto Highway 35 North = Skyline Boulevard. After about two miles, you will see the trailhead. It's that group of people and cars milling about on your left.
How to Get to the Steep North End of Sawyer's Camp Trail from Interstate 280:
The driver of the car has to drive the hotdogs of the party a few exits North on I-280 to the Millbrae Avenue -- Hillcrest Boulevard exit. After you get off the freeway, you have to parallel the freeway for a half mile or so to Hillcrest Boulevard, turn left, and cross under the freeway on an extension of Hillcrest. At the trailhead, the San Mateo Parks and Rec Department specifically welcomes Skaters to the trail.
What It's Like:
The Shoreline Trail:
The Shoreline Trail is remarkable for its length, not its complexity. Start skating from anywhere along East Third Avenue (note that East Third Avenue stops abruptly a few hundred yard from where you start) where the trail approaches asymptotically. If you head south, the trail makes an interesting meander under the San Mateo Bridge Have faith and follow the arrows. Just on the other side of the bridge, you will see a vestigial bridge, which has evolved into a fishing pier and semi-marine skating path. The trail continues to the south, along a Foster City street called Beach Park Boulevard. Where it gets kind of interesting is where the path diverges from the street far enough to meld a bit with Belmont Slough. The Slough resembles a marsh, but if it were really a marsh, you wouldn't be skating in it. The path ends at Sea Cloud Park, not far from where Marine World used to be.
You may notice that it's pretty smooth sailing down to here, and may ascribe the easy riding to the pavement, which isn't bad asphalt at all. When you turn around to go back, though, you may notice that the wind was very much at your back. South of the San Mateo Bridge it blows very persistently on occasion. Forewarned is forearmed.
On your way back, when you round the corner of Little Coyote Point, just after the Bridge, and get back to East Third Avenue, you might want to stop for some lunch at the only deli within reach of the trail, the Lincoln Deli in Lincoln Center on Lincoln Center Drive.
If you want to put off lunch 'til later, hit the trail again, headed north. The wide smooth asphalt goes on for miles, now hugging the shore, now drifting off a hundred yards to sea, for a moment even impersonating a concrete bridgespan -- an old one, at that -- pointing northward to Coyote Point. The shore gets dark and mucky, trying to return to a primordial state. Mile after mile, it winds toward the north, the farthest thing from a straight line between these two Points.
Where the trail almost melds with the beach habitat of the local burrowing owls -- just when you're starting to root for nature in earnest -- the trail is interrupted by a marina full of boats, a bathing beach, and a concrete structure dedicated to studying ecology, the Coyote Point Museum. Just disregard all that stuff, and skate around the point past the Humane Society where the airplanes are making their final approach to SFO.
* * * * * *
What It's Like:
The South End of Sawyer's Camp Trail:
For something completely different, head across town and up into the hills to the lower gateway to Sawyer's Camp Trail. Officially, it's the Sawyer's Camp Trail Multi Use Pathway, 6.2 miles in length, in the unincorporated area just west of Hillsborough. It's all that's left of what was once the main drag from San Francisco. Now Interstate 280 is the main drag, with Skyline Boulevard the missing link from the vestigial path to the thundering throughway.
Start skating north from the lower portal to the trail. Try not to do this in the afternoon of a hot summer day, because the sealcoat that was applied to the cracks in the pavement can get a little gummy.
For four miles or so, this trail twists and winds along Sawyer Ridge on the way to San Andreas Lake. It's all slightly uphill. The public lands you pass through are quite scenic. When you get much past the four mile marker, Sawyer's Camp Trail gets a bit too steep for skating.
What It's Like:
The North End of Sawyer's Camp Trail:
More experienced, highly intrepid skaters might want to be dropped off at the north end. From this end, it's a fascinating downhill ride through the history of water in San Francisco. All the plaques and commemmorative rocks could have been props on the set of Chinatown. There is one very long downhill stretch across a bridge, with an abrupt turn at the end. It's a Left. Left. Life is much less terrifying if you know your direction before you start.
One of the former names for this trail,back when it was a highway, was San Andreas Valley Road. This is the legendary seismic hotspot for Northern California; you can see lots of evidence of geologic activity along the San Andreas Fault while you skate downhill, mostly here at the north end of the trail.
Places to Eat:
There's the Lincoln Deli along the shore trail, just about where East Third Avenue grinds to a halt. Closed on Sundays.
There is a place right around the corner from the Shoreline Trail in San Mateo called Fashion Island. It's located on Mariner's Island, just a little way down Chess Drive from Foster City Boulevard. Fashion Island is a shopping mall that is widely reputed to have hit the skids because nobody could figure out how to get to it. At this point, most of it is closed. Shuttered. Kaput. Plans are afoot to turn it into a cluster of outlet stores. At this point in time, you can go over there for lunch and have a pretty decent lunch pretty cheap, and watch a pretty decent sized crowd of people ice skating around the rink in the middle of the mall. And then, you can walk over to the General Cinema multiplex -- a real moviehouse -- and watch a first run movie -- a real movie -- for $1.50/person.
The Sawyer's Camp Trail is untouched by any vending establishments whatsoever.
Another Place to eat:
Drive a few miles north from Half Moon Bay on Highway 1, and turn left at the El Granada stoplight onto Capistrano Road, into the little town of Princeton-by-the-Sea. Take the first quick left into the parking lots of Pillar Point Harbor. Look for Ketch Joanne's Fish Market and Captain's Deck, 25 Johnson Pier, 415-728-5959. Closed Tuesday. Best seafood on earth. And the street skating's not too bad around town either.
Public Transportation:
San Mateo Transit will take you to Third Avenue by the Bay Trail. It's SAMTrans 47F.
Ratings: Sawyer's Camp Trail
Path Surface = ***
Public Transit Access = NONE
Surroundings = ****
Level of Difficulty = Fairly Easy, at the south end. Extremely Challenging at north end.
Overall Rating = ****
Length = Six miles one way
Ratings: Shoreline Trail in San Mateo
Path Surface = ****
Public Transit Access = ****
Surroundings = **** for long stretches
Level of Difficulty =very EASY
Overall Rating = ****
Length = Eight miles one way
Other trails to check out in the neighborhood:
On the other side of the Bay from Coyote Point (the Shoreline trail in San Mateo) is a trail in the East Bay near Newark called Coyote Hills. Coyote Point down to Foster City is flat and littoral; Coyote Hills near Newark definitely has its ups and downs.
This similarity in names can be frustrating.
If you go west on Highway 92 eight twisting two lane miles past the turnoff on Highway 280 which took you to the Sawyer Camp Trail, you will eventually come to the town of Half Moon Bay on the Pacific Ocean. There is a little trail that runs north about 2.5 miles from Kelly Street in Half Moon Bay, parallel to the shore, to Miramar Beach. The easiest way to intersect with this trail is to turn right at the corner where Highway 92 runs into Highway 1, and head north to Venice State Beach. Turn left at the access road for Venice State Beach, and have a look at the trail, which crosses the access road just a few feet before the Park Rangers' kiosk. The trail is intended for hikers and equestrians, and the pavement is in bad shape. The scenery out here by the beach is of course spectacular.
Note from the Author: Haven't put in links to the other chapters yet.
From Richard Katz's Skating Unrinked book, published in paperback by HarperCollinsWest in 1994. Or was it '95? If you are not reading this on a screen, stop reading and head to www.Amazon.com. Thanx. Richard Katz = katz@frogojt.com. email
Back to Richard Katz's Homepage
If you want to go back to the Table of Contents of Skating Unrinked, Back to TOC