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Home Get Involved Wonders & Wanders El Corte de Madera |
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El Corte de Madera Open Space Preserve Overview Basics
Getting There Public Transit–Unfortunately, there is no public transit access to this park.
Native people from the Ohlone and Esselen tribes lived in this area for thousands of years prior to the arrival of Spanish missionaries in the 1770s. The Spanish moved the native people to the missions, where they were decimated by the rigors of forced labor and European diseases. When Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, this area became part of Mexico. The missions continued to operate, but became secular in 1834. The Mexican governor ruling California gave thousands of acres in this area to retiring soldiers, who undertook very limited logging on the bay side of the Santa Cruz Mountains starting in the 1830s. El Corte de Madera translates as "the place where timber is cut." In 1848, this area and the rest of California became part of the United States after the Mexican-American War. The steep terrain and remote location of this area initially kept loggers at bay. By the 1860s, however, intensive logging began, and eight mills operated in this area during the latter half of the 19th Century. By 1900, most of the large trees had been cut and the mills started to lose their economic vitality, but a minimal amount of logging continued up until 1988. Hikers can still see abandoned cabins, mills, rusted old equipment, and the railroad tracks that were used for moving the trees. The wide dirt roads in this area are old logging roads. Through the Trees Instead, follow Patrol Road uphill for about 50 yards until you go around a sharp right-hand bend; the trail splits at this point. Patrol Road continues to the right, but you should take the left-hand fork, which is clearly marked as the Tafoni Trail. Begin walking on the Tafoni Trail. The Tafoni Trail, like most of this hike, is heavily wooded with native plants such as Douglas fir, tan oak, madrone and chaparral. Other vegetation includes the horsetail, a descendent of a prehistoric plant. Horsetail has a central pale green stem and whorls of flaring branches. The native peoples and early settlers used it to scour and clean utensils. This hike is an experience for the nose as well as for the eyes thanks to lots of blooming plants and smells of bark and leaves. It's also a place to realize that oaks aren't just good-looking shade trees, but vital suppliers of the acorns that feed turkeys and feral pigs.
When you get onto the Fir Trail, you will curve to the right for a short distance and walk another quarter-mile. The trail splits, with the Fir Trail continuing to the left. Take the path on the right labeled "Vista Point." Suddenly the view will open up and you'll see San Mateo County's unspoiled, rolling hills covered with redwoods nearly all the way to the ocean. These towering trees evolved about 200 million years ago and at their peak covered large parts of North America, Europe, Greenland, Asia and northern Siberia; now they are found only in fragments along the California coast. Capable of reaching heights well over 300 feet, they draw moisture from the area's regular fogs and thwart competing trees by shading the areas around them. After you've been under tree cover for the last 45 minutes, the vista point is a dramatic change. There's some grazing on these hills, but otherwise little development is visible. Much of the land west of where you're standing is protected by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District or unsuitable for development due to a lack of infrastructure and steeply sloping hills. This is a good place to stop for lunch or just take a break. Despite the rugged terrain, this area could easily be dotted with homes and cut off from public access. The reason it's not is that people like you took action to protect this and other lands by creating the Mid-Peninsula Open Space District (also known as MidPen). By the early 1970s, development in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties was rapidly paving over former agricultural land and marching into the foothills. Although there was growing public concern about the loss of open space in this area, it took the leadership of Palo Alto piano teacher Nonette Hanko to do something about it. Hanko organized other area residents to put a measure on the November 1972 ballot to fund the creation of an open space district to purchase and protect land. The measure allowed the district to collect 10 cents property tax for every $100 of assessed property in the organization's boundaries, which stretched roughly from Los Gatos north to the San Mateo line, and from Skyline Boulevard east to the bay. With the support of many individuals and groups, including People for Open Space (the forerunner of Greenbelt Alliance), the measure passed by the required 2 to 1 margin. MidPen purchased its first land in 1974, and it acquired the 2,700 acres comprising El Corte de Madera Open Space Preserve in 1985. Today, MidPen has 26 preserves and close to 46,000 acres under management—all because citizen activists collected those initial signatures that put a measure on the ballot and then got out the vote. Other districts also help keep the Bay Area's greenbelt intact: The East Bay Regional Park District is the area's oldest, the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority is MidPen's younger sibling that just opened its first hiking trail, and there are several other proposals on the table for other Bay Area open space districts. Also, Peninsula residents have taken other routes to preserving open space in San Mateo County. Organizations such as the Peninsula Open Space Trust, the Sempervirens Fund, the Committee for Green Foothills and Greenbelt Alliance were all created by ordinary people who wanted to preserve the Peninsula's hiking, biking and open spaces for future generations.
Do this by taking a left when you get to the trail junction, so that you are now continuing along the Tafoni Trail but away from the parking lot. You'll find yourself back in dense tree canopy again, traversing below the ridgeline that Highway 35 is on. After about a half mile, you'll pass through some groves of redwood trees. Keep an eye out on the right for the turn-off to the tafoni formation—it's hidden behind a redwood. After you see the tafoni, turn around and head back the way you came. At the trail junction, take the Fir Trail back to the parking lot at Skeggs Point. You'll have more of a chance to see the beautiful firs that give the trail its name. There will be two more junctions, so remember, at each junction, bear left so you remain on the Fir Trail and return to Skeggs Point. You’ll pass antennas and small sheds and end up on a paved asphalt road. Note once more before you leave how development comes from the east as far as Highway 35 but then essentially stops. That's due to both citizen action and the initiative process, which let you and others help preserve the Bay Area's remaining open spaces.
Bikes are allowed on both the Tafoni and Fir Trails. A lack of steep trails and an abundance of wildlife (deer, turkey) make this a good hike for kids, although they should be cautioned not to touch the tafoni formations. They should also watch for poison oak, and stay close to adults as mountain lions have been sighted here.
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From
the Skeggs Point parking area, walk north along the road for a few hundred
feet, then cross the road (west) into the trailhead area, labeled CM01.
The trailhead is referred to as the Skeggs Point trailhead. Even though
you'll spend most of your time on the Tafoni Trail and the Fir Trail,
the Patrol Road—visible from the parking area—serves as the
trailhead for this hike. There is a paved, gated road on the left—but
that's not the way you want to go.
Follow
the sandstone trail sign to the viewing platform. Here you'll find
the trail's namesake: a formation of tafoni, an oddly sculpted, rare type
of sandstone created by a process known as cavernous weathering. Rainwater
interacts with the sandstone outcroppings to draw minerals to the surface;
when the water dries, the minerals crystallize and then break off, resulting
in the weathering of the sandstone. Over time, these processes carve sandstone
into the honeycombed tafoni you see. Be very careful not to touch or tread
on the unique rock formation as it can be easily damaged.