An oasis on the Peninsula

The transition becomes apparent as soon as you leave Daly City, pass the elementary school in Colma Canyon on the left and begin the slow ascent over the saddle area of the mountain. After a few minutes the terrain becomes lush and green, tranquil and peaceful. You pass through a remnant of the Franciscan Habitat landscape along the side of the road.

It is cool, a perfect environment for coastal scrub and grassland communities. Montara Manzanita, Pacific Manzanita, Franciscan wldlflowers, plus many other exotics grow on the sides of the canyon.

There are 14 species of rare or endangered plant life, as well as host and nectar plants for endangered butterflies. Sandstone of the Franciscan Formation can be seen everywhere and the common rock is called graywacke. If you’re lucky, you might see raptors flying overhead looking for food: mice and other small rodents.

The rise in elevation is exhilarating, but you’ll need to travel farther to get to the highest elevation of the canyon — 1,314 feet. At the Saddle Area take a left-hand turn. Although you have been traveling through the San Bruno Mountain State and County Park, it is more noticeable now as you pass through the gatehouse and parking area. The gatehouse is not always manned as constraints of the county budget do not permit a ranger on duty at all times.

If you park your car, you can utilize the many trails that are available for the walker. The Bog Trail (.77 mile) as well as the Old Guadalupe trail (.8 mile), and the Saddle Trail (2.1 miles) are to the west. Across the road to the south you can find another parking area where you can try the Eucalyptus Loop Trail (1.08miles), as well as the Dairy Ravine Trail (.43 miles). If you continue on the road that leads across and under the Guadalupe Canyon Parkway, a beautiful drive awaits you on a small, well-cared-for, less congested road that leads to the summit of San Bruno Mountain. A grove of old Eucalyptus trees greets you as you continue your ascent to the top of the hill. There at the top of the hill you will be rewarded with the most magnificent view of the Bay and Peninsula.

In 1973, the government passed the Endangered Species Act. On Oct. 13, 1982, an amendment was added that included provisions that dealt specifically with endangered species on private land. The San Bruno Mountain Habitat conservation plan of 1982 was put into effect to save the Mission Blue butterfly and other species on San Bruno Mountain.

The imposing mountain had become a land grant in 1841. An American Jacob Leese, had married a sister of General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and had acquired the land. To identify the grant completely, Jacob Leese gave it the imposing name of the three valleys he had received: Rancho Canada Guadalupe La Visitacion y Rodeo Viejo.

The name Guadalupe designated the valley area of what is now the city of Brisbane, marked to show that the grant went to the shore of the Bay. La Visitacion defined the northern boundary, north of the Cow Palace, and the "old Rodeo” (Rodeo Viejo) took in the hill to the present Mission Street. The grant comprised two square leagues, 9500 acres. Jacob Leese preferred to live in the pueblo of Yerba Buena, and in 1843 he traded his property to Robert Ridley for a ranch in Sonoma County. Ridley proceeded to lose heavily by gambling and was forced to sell land to a number of people: Robert Eaton acquired 700 acres, and Alford Wheeler acquired many thousands of acres for $875. In 1865 Henry Payson acquired 5473 acres with the Visitation Land Company getting the lion’s share of the split. Ridley’s gambling debts caught up with him again and eventually Charles Crocker acquired 3,840 acres to settle a gambling debt. In 1891 much of the land passed to the Crocker Land Company, and later the Foremost McKesson Company acquired it. In 1959, the 290-acre Crocker Industrial Park was developed in the Guadalupe Valley.

In 1964, the San Mateo County Regional Planning Committee was created and in 1968, with the help of the Parks and Recreation Department, produced the Parks and Open Space Element of the General Plan to acquire and set aside 300 acres in the Saddle Area where Crocker Land Company wanted to develop apartments, townhouses and commercial businesses. The citizens of Brisbane objected to the Crocker plan and on March 18, 1976, the Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to adopt the Saddle Area into its Open Space amendment., thus stopping development of the area.

In December 1995, the 21.5-acre mountain top was an area of contention between Watson Communications of Vallejo, owners of the mountain top, and David Schooley of the Bay Area Land Watch. Schooley, as representative of the environmental group, contended that the addition of 32 new satellite dishes, plus ten equipment shelters and buildings would endanger the San Bruno elfin butterfly’s food supply.

The San Bruno elfin butterfly is a rare and endangered species, and plants that supply nectar to the butterfly inhabit the mountain. The courts saw otherwise and Schooley lost this round to the many developers that want to use San Bruno Mountain for commercial development.