Recently, as bicyclists rode the Alpine Road Trail through Coal Creek Open Space Preserve for the first time since major improvements to it were completed, they thanked Midpen staff who had worked on the project as they pedaled by.
The full length of Alpine Road follows a natural corridor people have been using for hundreds of years to travel from the bayside of the Peninsula, up to the ridgeline of the Santa Cruz Mountains, and over to the San Mateo County coast. Much of the road is paved and owned by the County of San Mateo.
However, a 2.6-mile dirt section known as Alpine Road Trail climbs through Midpen’s Coal Creek Preserve, skirts the boundary of the preserve on county land and terminates at upper Page Mill Road near Skyline Boulevard. Hikers, dog-walkers, equestrians and especially bicyclists use it as a safe way to travel from the Portola Valley area up to Skyline where they can access a greenbelt of trails and open space, much of it managed by Midpen.
And now, this section not only serves as an important regional trail connection, it is also more reliable for trail users, sustainable into the future and protective of nearby Corte Madera Creek thanks to a host of improvements made by Midpen. These include addressing erosion and trail stability issues by repairing and constructing culverts and retaining walls. Midpen staff also built a new, high-quality segment of trail and decommissioned a steep, informal bypass trail that had been created around an old landslide.
The $3.6 million in work occurred over two years, was identified in Midpen’s community supported Vision Plan and was primarily funded by Measure AA with support from a County of Santa Clara grant. The County of San Mateo, which owns part of the trail segment Midpen improved, is a supportive project partner.
The calming rush of Corte Madera Creek, though mostly out of sight, can be heard along nearly the entire improved section. It flows into the larger San Francisquito Creek Watershed, and the work done by Midpen was designed to significantly reduce the amount of sediment eroding into the watershed, making it healthier for fish and other aquatic life downstream.
Wildlife and wildflowers can be enjoyed along the improved route as well. On a recent day, the distinct call of a spotted towhee could be heard in the underbrush, while a pileated woodpecker drummed in the tree canopy and a pair of red-tailed hawks soared overhead. Areas that had once been thickets of poison oak that Midpen trail crews cut back when building the new stretch of trail are being replaced by swaths of sword ferns. Native wildflowers dot the trailside including checker lilies, columbines and cream and lavender-colored irises. Near the upper reaches of Alpine Road Trail, visitors are rewarded with occasional glimpses of the San Francisco Bay and beyond through gaps in the trees.