Edgewood Wildflower Hike

Join me for a hike in Edgewood Preserve, a beautiful 467 acre preserve right here nestled in the hills above San Carlos. This park was created in 1993 through the efforts of conservation minded citizens, and continues to be maintained and cared for by volunteers and local community members.

The preserve hosts an incredible variety of native plants, animals, (as well as many non-native species), and diverse soil types. There is so much diversity here it would be impossible to explore everything in a morning but my plan is to maximize our time and hike the trails that I think give us the best taste of the Spring wild flowers, unique soil types, views, and access to the central ridge and oak forests that host of variety of birds, mammals, and insects.

We will meet at the Clarkia trailhead Sunday morning around 9:30 and try to be on the trail by 9:45. Note that there is limited parking at Clarkia (see details below)and so carpooling is encouraged. For anyone wanting to carpool I can drive us from the park and ride just of I280 on Edgewood road (right hand side if you are driving westbound up Edgewood road), please DM me or write in comments if you would like to carpool.

Route
For the route we will start off on the Clarkia trail, head about 0.6 miles to the Sunset trail, then take a turn onto the Sunset trail to admire the wildflowers and wide open grassland, head over to the Edgewood trail, take a sharp turn onto the Serpentine Trail, up the Franciscan trail and into the shade of coastal oak forests, then onto the Ridge trail, and ultimately to the ridge viewpoint and back down to the Clarkia trail. Don’t worry if you cannot memorize all this I will attach a map to the event page!

The whole loop will be about 3.5 miles and take us about two hours.

Lunch!
We should be done around noon, and afterwards I can show you the best hidden spot for the best burger joint in Redwood City & San Carlos.

Clarkia Trailhead/Parking
Note: there are no bathrooms at this entrance and parking can be limited on weekends. Avoid parking tickets — do not block bike lanes.
From I-280, take the Edgewood Rd exit 29. Turn west toward the mountains and continue until Edgewood Rd ends at a tee intersection with Cañada Rd. Turn left onto Cañada and look for the trailhead shortly after passing under I-280.
From Hwy 101, take the Whipple Ave exit and turn west toward the mountains. Continue on Whipple about 1.5 miles to the light at Alameda de las Pulgas, and turn right. At the next light, turn left onto Edgewood Rd. Continue on Edgewood about 3 miles until the road ends at a tee intersection with Cañada Rd. Turn left onto Cañada and look for the trailhead shortly after passing under I-280

Carpooling
I recommend carpooling due to limited parking spots, and I am available to drive up to 4 people from the Park and Ride off Edgewood road a short distance to the Clarkia Trailhead on Cañada Road.

Cheers!
David