Trails and Access

The Parks Foundation directs funding toward improving access and maintaining trails for all park users. Scroll down to see how this manifests in your San Mateo County Parks.

Accessible Trails

Ensuring that all park visitors, regardless of ability, have access to our wonderful park resources is vitally important. This has included improving access:

• into San Bruno Mountain from the Crocker Gate entrance and neighboring community,
• at the program gathering space adjacent to the Memorial Park Visitor Center,
• around Sanchez Adobe so students of all abilities may enjoy the resources available at this historic site while on school field trips. Many thanks to the Bothin Foundation for their support on this project.

 

Bicycles

In addition to supporting the year-round Bicycle Sunday events, the Parks Foundation has made it possible for bike fix-it stations to be installed at key points around your park system; from Coyote Point to Mirada Surf to the newest one available at Cowell-Purisima Trail. We also funded a bike fix-it station at CAL FIRE’s Skylonda Fire Station 58 near Alice’s Restaurant off Skyline Blvd., ensuring bicyclists in the area have a safe place to fix and maintain their bikes.

The Parks Foundation has also helped maintain the Quarry Park pump track by providing the needed soil to replenish the track after heavy rains threatened its integrity.

 

Equestrian Trails

Supporting San Mateo County’s equestrian community by contributing to the rebuild and repair of key equestrian trail connections is important to the Parks Foundation. In recent years this has included providing support for:

• Alambique Trail in Wunderlich Park after the old trail was washed out during a winter storm
• Clarkia and Serpentine Trails at Edgewood Preserve
• Greer Road Bridge/ Kings Mtn Trail in Huddart Park (currently underway)
• Lawler Bridge on the west side of 280, a connection point to San Mateo County Parks
• Towne Creek Bridge in Pescadero Creek County Park which had been weakened due to erosion

 

Trail Signs

With support from REI Co-op, the Parks Foundation ensured the creation of new trail signs throughout the San Mateo County Parks system. The signs offer more information in terms of distance to the next trailhead, trail difficulty and nearby points of interest. Our favorite part? They are numbered, which corresponds to numbers on your park map so you can quickly find your location.

 

Park Prescriptions

In partnership with San Mateo County Health, the San Mateo County Parks Foundation is promoting healthy lifestyles with park prescriptions. The physical and emotional benefits of spending time in nature are well-documented. This is why more and more doctors are prescribing time in nature to their patients:

“Spend one hour in nature, twice a week”

Time in nature is associated with lower blood pressure, enhanced immune system function, reduced anxiety, improved mood, better eye-sight and much more. The threshold for receiving these benefits is two hours per week of nature-time.

One does not always need to go for a long hike to realize the health benefits. Simply sitting on a bench with a pretty view and looking for birds or whales is good for our well-being and this has a positive ripple effect throughout our whole body.

The park prescription doubles as a day parking pass at San Mateo County Parks that charge $6 per vehicle entry (see map below). The San Mateo County Parks Foundation reimburses San Mateo County Parks for each surrendered pass.

 

 

Park Passes in Libraries

The San Mateo County Parks Foundation has placed four annual park passes in every city, county and community college library in the county – that’s a total of 34 libraries. Seven of the 24 San Mateo County Parks charge a $6 vehicular entrance fee, which is much-needed revenue for the Parks Department. However, it can also be a barrier to low-income families already struggling with high rents and inflation.

All you need is a library card. “Offering county park passes will encourage our community members to explore what’s right in our own backyard,” San Mateo County Libraries Director Anne-Marie Despain said. “We hope these passes inspire more people to discover and enjoy our County Parks.”

Hung on your rear-view mirror, the annual park pass will provide free entry to the following parks:

1. Coyote Point Recreation Area
2. Huddart Park
3. Junipero Serra Park
4. Memorial Park
5. Sam McDonald Park
6. San Bruno Mountain State and County Park
7. San Pedro Valley Park

Being able to freely access the parks can be a lifesaver for people living in overcrowded situations far away from parks and open spaces.

“Fostering a bond between people and the outdoors is essential for future conservation efforts.  Through this program, more people will have the opportunity to visit new parks, explore different environments and become good stewards of the land. We appreciate the collaboration between the Parks Foundation and San Mateo County Library System to launch such an important program.”

— Nicholas Calderon, San Mateo County Parks Director