Enjoy the Peninsula’s finest views and most spectacular spring wildflower displays on these ridgeline trails through Skyline Ridge and Russian Ridge Open Space Preserves. Climb through open grasslands to high knolls with gradual elevation gains and losses. The route has narrow hiking trails and wide ranch roads on duff-covered to gravelly or rocky surfaces. These exposed ridgetops can be foggy and windy; trails on south- and west-facing slopes offer only intermittent shade.
- From: Horseshoe Lake Trailhead
- To: Rapley Ranch Road in La Honda
- Length: 5.1 miles one-way for hikers, 5.5 miles one-way for multiuse route (includes 0.1 mile on Rapley Ranch Road); car shuttle possible.
- Elevation Gain/Loss: 780 feet/810 feet one-way
- Accessibility: Hikers, equestrians, and mountain bikers. Wheelchair users have access to two lake- side trails around Horseshoe and Alpine Lakes.
(This trail description is excerpted from the 2019 Guidebook. For details on all trails, trailheads, and more, buy the book from Wilderness Press. For more resources to plan your trip, visit our Trail Tools page.)
