Located at the northern end of the Bay Area Peninsula between San Jose and San Francisco, Purisima Creek Redwoods is a local favorite for all lovers of the outdoors. With hiking and biking mixed use trails that range from low lying coastal Redwood forests to ridges 2,000 feet above, the hiking here is both diverse and awesome!
The hike for the day was a loop starting from the North Parking Lot atop the park’s highest ridge descending down the North Ridge Trail into Whittemore Gulch. From the bottom, we then climbed the Harkins Ridge Trail back up creating a cool little loop! This loop promised good views, Redwoods, and hopefully nice trails!
Miles/Elevation:
7.6 miles
1,853 feet vertical gain
About Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve:
Overlooking Half Moon Bay, Purisima Creek Redwoods is an awesome preserve characterized by open ridgelines, Redwood forests, and the stunning Purisima Creek Canyon. Located on the San Francisco Peninsula, this park is within easy reach of both San Francisco and San Jose, making it a great destination for a day trip. With access from above along the sweeping Skyline Blvd or from below off Highway 1, there are multiple entry points from which to start your day.
Getting To Purisima Creek Redwoods:
Purisima Creek is easily reached from San Francisco and San Jose, or any of the other cities and towns along the Peninsula or in the South Bay. Located between highways 35 and 1, there are multiple entry points to access the park’s trails. To the North Parking Lot which I started my hike at, it is about a 40 minute drive from San Jose or a 25 minute drive from San Francisco International. The North Parking Lot is located on highway 35, Skyline Drive.
You may also begin by driving to the lower part of the preserve off highway 1, though this will add significant driving time unless coming from somewhere along the coast. Public transport is really not available to access the entry points of the preserve, so driving yourself, or taking a Lyft, is your best bet.
The Whittemore Gulch and Harkins Ridge Loop:
The North Ridge Trail:
The hike begins by hiking down the hillside more or less in a straight line along a wide, well graded path. While the trail is wide and well graded, it is pretty steep, and my knees were feeling it a little bit. It’s rough to start with that steep of a descent!
After a refreshingly flat walk, the views begin to really open up. As the trees thin, you’ll get glimpses of the Pacific, with many more to come. Soon, I emerged from the forest and in front of me was a sweeping panorama of the Pacific Ocean fronted by the valleys and hills of the immediate coastline below! You’ll be dropping into those valleys soon, so enjoy the big views while you’re up here!
Montara Mountain is a great coastal hike near Half Moon Bay!
After just over a mile of hiking and 500 feet of descending, you’ll hit the intersection with the Whittemore Gulch Trail. There’s actually a couple of places where you intersect with the Whittemore Gulch Trail, so take either. It basically parallels the North Ridge Trail for a little bit, but eventually you will branch off and drop into the valley! The earlier intersection would just have you following the single track a bit longer.
The Whittemore Gulch Trail:
For the best Bay Area hike, check out this route form Muir Woods to the summit of Mt Tamalpais!
After a brief walk through a hillside meadow, the trail will drop into the forest as you descend into Whittemore Gulch. The trail is a really nice singletrack, and is extremely well constructed. Rather than the unsophisticated fire roads that blast directly up steep hillsides, the trail eloquently switchbacks its way down into the valley!
The best Redwood hike in California is even further up north in Humboldt Redwoods State Park!
The very nice trail quality makes the hiking go quickly, and soon you will be in full fledged Redwood forest. The change is gradual, and at first you’ll notice small stands of the giant trees, but those small stands quickly increase in frequency and size!
After about a mile and a quarter on the Whittemore Gulch Trail, you will reach the bottom of Whittemore Gulch and the stream that runs through it. The gulch is a classic example of a Redwood canyon. Lots of trees, lots of ferns, and a nice little creek running down the middle! The trees aren’t of the massive old growth variety, but it is certainly still a nice Redwood canyon!
The trail widens a bit once you reach the bottom of the gulch, though the descending will continue. The trail follows the creek as it runs towards the ocean, so expect to keep descending at least a bit longer along the gentle slope.
Looking for huge old growth Redwoods instead? Head to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park!
As you hike down Whittemore Gulch, you will eventually start to notice the trees thinning, and you eventually enter an open meadow. This signals the end of the Whittemore Gulch Trail and your imminent arrival at the bottom of the preserve. If you need, there are bathrooms here. If not, stay left, don’t cross the bridge, and begin hiking back upstream along Purisima Creek!
The Harkins Ridge Trail:
Try the North Ridge Trail for a shorter Purisima hike!
If you want to follow the route that we took, make sure you don’t cross the bridge over Purisima Creek. If you do, and then follow the Purisima Creek Trail, your loop will be at least a couple of miles longer. Avoiding crossing the bridge to stay on the Harkins Ridge Trail to shorten the hike.
The Harkins Ridge Trail will briefly follow the north bank of Purisima Creek, and to me this was one of the prettiest parts of the hike. Whittemore Gulch was very nice, but Purisima Creek is a much larger stream, and for whatever reason I preferred the aesthetic here. We also saw 3 banana slugs within about 5 minutes around Purisima Creek which is always fun!
You won’t be following the water for long, and very quickly the trail will head up an incline and begin climbing away from Purisima Creek. The first mile climbing away from Purisima Creek isn’t bad (you’ll climb about 500 feet), but once you reach Harkins Ridge itself, it really picks up!
You’ll know it once you reach the ridge. It’s actually pretty cool because in front of you the land rises abruptly up while to either side you can see valleys heading off into the distance, but that means some steep climbing!
I love ridgetop hiking, but that doesn’t quite apply when the trail is a fireroad that goes directly up the ridge even when it’s obnoxiously steep! This trail was a brutal climb. By the numbers it’s really not that much, only about 600 vertical feet over the course of a mile or so, but it’s more about how that elevation is gained.
Rather than a constant incline, the trail will abruptly climb a short but extremely steep slope, and then level out for a few hundred feet, rinse and repeat, over and over again.
I’m not sure if it was because I hiked the day prior or what, but I was really struggling on this climb! You also lose almost all of the shade that you benefitted from in the Redwoods, so maybe that was a part of it as well. The air wasn’t that hot but the sun had us sweating hard! Either way, I did not enjoy this climb!
Hiking in the Santa Cruz Mountains? Be sure to check out Castle Rock State Park!
Stay left at the intersection with the Craig Britton Trail which leads back down towards Purisima Creek, and then continue for about 1 more mile back to the North Ridge Trail. Good news: once you hit that intersection with the Craig Britton Trail, you have about 200 feet of climbing left before a nice half mile of mostly flat walking. Yay!
The remainder of the Harkins Ridge Trail is pretty easy, and before you know it you’ll be back on the North Ridge Trail. The only thing left is the climb back to the parking lot. Rather than climbing the North Ridge Trail to the trailhead (a fireroad) I actually prefer to take the singletrack trail next to the North Ridge Trail. The incline is much easier, and it makes for a gentler end to the day! After about 3 hours of hiking, we were done and back at the car!
Topdown Lifestyle Rating: 8/10
This is a good trail and has some really great stretches. You’ll find some really nice views (including glimpses of the ocean) as well as some very pretty Redwood forests. The trail quality is largely good, though some of the inclines, notably up Harkins Ridge, are excessively steep fire roads which isn’t ideal.
To be honest, I didn’t enjoy this hike as much as I thought I would, and thinking about it, I didn’t really think I would rate it an 8/10. However, I started thinking about it. What if we hiked it the other direction, down the Harkins Ridge Trail and up the Whittemore Gulch Trail? Had we done that, I think I would have really liked this hike!
All of that being said, if you hike this loop down Harkins Ridge and up Whittemore Gulch, this is a really good 8/10 hike. If you go the direction we did, hope you’re in good enough shape to not mind the steep ascents! Then again, maybe I’m just being dramatic!
Pros:
- Very good, diverse, views
- Redwoods
- Multiple streams
- Most good trail quality
Cons:
- Some very steep sections of trail
- Fire roads
- Nothing truly exciting, no big moments
- Redwoods aren’t old growth
Alternative Hikes:
North Peak Loop: Montara State Beach
Purisima Creek Redwoods North Ridge Trail
When To Hike Purisima Creek Redwoods:
Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve really is a 4 season destination. In summer, you can expect to sweat on exposed sections of trails, and to be comfortable on the shaded sections. During winter, expect to be cool in the shaded areas, but still warm in exposed sections. Rain is most likely in winter and spring.
Links For Further Reading:
Whittemore Gulch and Harkins Ridge Loop Trail – California | AllTrails
Whittemore Gulch-Purisima Creek Loop – Modern Hiker
Bill D.
September 3, 2022If you’re going to do this loop, Decsend Harkins Ridge, and climb Whitmore Gulch. NEVER climb Harkins! It’s a steep, dusty, treeless fire road! If you can do 9 miles, descend Craig Britton, Purisma creek trails and climb Whitmore.