Skyline Ridge Habitats

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Difficulty: Easy
Length: 2.0 miles / 3.2 km
Duration: 1-3 hours

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Overview: A lively, sound-rich introduction to Skyline Ridge, one of the most beautiful and intriguing preserves in the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. The adventure starts at the David C. Daniels Nature Center. Then you move to the watery world of cattails and willows at Alpine Pond, climb up through a mixed evergreen forest, weave through some scented chaparral, and traverse a swath of wide-open grassland.

Along the way, you meet MROSD docent programs coordinator Renee Fitzsimons, area superintendent Brian Malone, biologist Cindy Roessler, and docents Strether Smith and Sharon Thomas. Each shares entertaining stories—about local history, rattlesnakes, woodrats, mountain lions, pond turtles, butterflies, and more.

Tips: The preserve is open from dawn until a half hour after sunset. No dogs, please. Poison oak and ticks are the most common annoyances. The preserve is on a ridge at about 1,800 feet in elevation, so be prepared for more wind and weather than in the flatlands.

Park in the Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve parking lot at the northwest corner of Skyline Boulevard (Highway 35) and Page Mill Road/Alpine Road intersection (across Skyline Boulevard on the right). Walk through the tunnel under Alpine Road to reach the David C. Daniels Nature Center, where the tour starts.

The District multimedia nature tours formally launched in April 2012. As this is a new pilot program, we appreciate and welcome your feedback and comments.

Points of Interest

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Daniels Center

Welcome to Skyline Ridge.

In this opening segment, MROSD area superintendent Brian Malone and biologist Cindy Roessler offer some ideas about making the most of the 2-mile-long adventure ahead.

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1 Daniels Nature Center

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Riparian Habitat

An introduction to Alpine Pond and its inhabitants, including marsh wrens, red-winged blackbirds, black phoebes and dusky-footed woodrats. With the help of the Renee Fitzsimons, you can learn how to identify some of the pond's avian visitors by the sounds they make.

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2 Riparian Habitat

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Grinding Stone

Docent Sharon Thomas takes us into a magical place where you can see evidence of the native peoples who once lived here. Renee Fitzsimons illuminates a different era, when big Douglas firs were hauled to Palo Alto on Old Page Mill Trail.

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3 Grinding Stone

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Big Snag

Head up the Sunny Jim Trail (a fire road). When it turns left, you'll see some reddish farm buildings. Stop there to gaze at an old Douglas Fir snag and—if you're lucky—hear the raucous call of the acorn woodpecker.

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4 Big Snag

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Forest Edge

Keep heading up the Sunny Jim Trail. When it makes a 180-degree turn into the woods, it's time to ponder transition zones—and get to know tanoaks and thimbleberries.

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5 Forest Edge2

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Mixed Evergreen Forest

Just ahead you'll be walking gently upward amid the weird, wavy, only-partly-illuminated shapes of an oak forest. Keep an eye out for massive old canyon oaks, which have many big branches reaching out from a short trunk.

Biologist Cindy Roessler reports on how canyon oaks are faring in the fight against the Sudden Oak Death—a disease that is killing oaks all over California.

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6 Evergreen Forest

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Ridge Crest

As you emerge from the oak woodland, you'll see a sign to your left that says "To Butano View Trail." Take that trail up to the top of the ridge. You'll be there in no time, on top of the world. Our next stop is at an unsigned trail junction about a hundred yards below the ridge.

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7 Ridge Crest

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Douglas Fir & Madrone

At the trail junction, we discuss the trees you can see just uphill from here. Int In this segment you'll learn
—how to identify a Douglas fir from its cone
—why the red-barked madrone is called the "refrigerator tree," and
—what a "Scotch" pine is doing in the USA.

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8 Douglas Fir & Madrone

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Rattlesnake Point

Docent Strether Smith tells rattlesnake stories and biologist Cindy Roessler revels in the grand view.

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9 Rattlesnake Point

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Chaparral

Now we're in the prickly neighborhood. But chaparral can be pleasant if you know its secrets. Right on this trail, you'll make the acquaintance of plants that 1) can track the sun, 2) smell like cherries, 3) give butterflies an edge over their predators, and 4) make cowboys more appealing.

Variable Checkerspot Butterfly Caterpillar Photo

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10 Chaparral

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On the Rocks

The Vaqueros sandstone you'll see in an outcrop just ahead has moved up from Southern California over millions of years.

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11 On the Rocks

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Grassland

Look for tracks on soft soil of the trail ahead. But don't forget to look up, too. You could easily see a vulture, a red-tailed hawk, or even a golden eagle. You're not likely to see a badger here, but you might see the dome-shaped burrow of this fierce digging machine. Listen as Cindy Roessler exults in the sight of half a dozen deer "pronging" in the meadow below. It's the next best thing to Swan Lake.

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12 Grassland

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Canyon Oak

Now it's time to get serious about identifying one of this preserve's signature trees: the canyon live oak. Don't worry about whether the leaves are prickly or smooth. As Cindy Roessler explains, it's all about the shape of the acorn and the back of the leaf.

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13 Canyon Oak

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Buckeye & Elderberry

Trees with unusual abilities, such as killing fish and making music.

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14 Buckeye and Elderberry

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Homeward Bound

Cruising back to the nature center, Cindy Roessler hears two different messages from a California quail. The tour ends on a froggy yet philosophic note.

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15 Homeward Bound

Pictures in this guide taken by: joan_hamilton, Karl Gohl, Karl Gohl , Joan Hamilton, Cindy Roessler, www.naturepicsonline.com, Joan Hamilton , Walter Siegmund/Wikipedia Commons, Jack Owicki, iStockphoto.com/Joshua Haviv, naturespicsonline.com, Dave Herr/USFS, Joe Oliver

Copyright 2011 Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. All rights reserved.

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