Skyline ridge trail extension nearly done

“There really is not a way for people to safely walk, or bike or ride a horse in this section of ridge along the entire 400 miles of the Ridge Trail,” Tim Ramirez, SFPUC natural resources manager, said.

The ultimate goal of the Bay Area Ridge Trail nonprofit is to work with various landowners and public entities to create one, continuous trail connecting the ridges that span the Bay Area, Deputy Director Ryan Mack said.

“The vision of the Bay Area Ridge Trail is a 550-mile, continuous multiuse trail along ridgelines of the entire Bay Area,” he said. “It will cross over all nine counties of the Bay Area, helping to connect people to parks and open space throughout the Bay and give people access to the wilderness.”

One major part of the Skyline Ridge extension project — which is estimated to open fall 2025, Ramirez said — is a roughly 6-mile stretch of trail that begins at the intersection of Skyline Boulevard, also known as Highway 35, and State Route 92.

A second element of the new construction will create an ADA-accessible loop on the southern end of the already-existing Fifield-Cahill Ridge Trail, which is operated on a nearby part of the Peninsula watershed also owned by the SFPUC. Visitors can tour the Fifield-Cahill Ridge Trail with a docent by appointment.

The SFPUC primarily operates as a water provider in the Bay Area. The Skyline trail extension marks an expansion of its work serving the public good and offering outdoor access, Ramirez said.

“We’ve never undertaken something at this scale before, so it’s been sort of fun to watch it come into fruition,” he said. “A lot of people are, I think, happily surprised that we actually did it.”

The SFPUC is also working with the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District to expand a nearby parking lot and install a crosswalk at the Purisima Creek Redwoods Preserve and Highway 35 for what they anticipate to be a significant increase in visitors. That parking lot is located at the southern end of the new trail extension.

“It’s going to be so popular that we’re trying to get out in front of that with Midpen,” Ramirez said. “There’s a separate project that we’re working on with them to expand their parking lot.”

Extending the trail will now allow visitors to the Purisima Creek Redwoods Preserve to cross the highway and continue into the woods uninterrupted.

“If you love redwoods and you’re hiking Purisima, you’ll be able to go across the street in a couple years and keep going in the redwoods, in a place that really nobody’s been able to access in 150 years,” Ramirez said.

Permits — which can be obtained online within minutes — will be required to access the new trail.

Note to readers: A previous version of this article said that the SFPUC was working with the Mid-Peninsula Open Space Preserve on this project. This article has been corrected with the correct name of the agency, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.