Monte Bello Open Space Preserve
Directions: From 280 going through Palo Alto, CA, take Page Mill Road approximately 7 miles up into the hills. Look for the entrance into the Monte Bello parking area on your left.
Parking fee: none
The hike begins. Tom leads the way as we all follow
There was still some fall color back in there!
I like tree pictures
Here is another one along the trail
Sign for the old Black Mountain Ranch
On top of Black Mountain looking out to the ocean
USGS benchmark at the top of Black Mountain
About to dig out lunch on the peak, where’s the beer?
There were at least a dozen deer across over there
Hanging around the rocky peak
Another view from the rocky peak of Black Mtn
Looking down towards Cupertino
We ran into one of Tom’s hiking groups. Say cheese!
There is a campsite below those trees. Nice spot.
Walking down the Indian Creek Trail
Looking down towards Stevens Creek
South east view from the Indian Creek Trail
Still on the Indian Trail here I think
I believe this was on a section of the Canyon Trail
Nearing the Stevens Creek Nature Trail
Crossing Stevens Creek
View along the Stevens Creek Nature Trail
Almost back.
Back at the parking lot
On January 1, 2007, I joined in for small group hike in the
Monte Bello Open Space Preserve, west of Palo Alto, CA
GPS Stats for 1-Jan-2007
Distance hiked: 6.29 miles
Total ascent: 1196 ft
Trailhead Elevation: 2208 ft
Max Elevation: 2820
Moving time: 2 hrs 45 min
Moving Average: 2.3 mph
Overall average: 1.6 mph
Time stopped: 1 hr 15 min
Personal stats
Dates Hiked:
1-Jan-2007
12-May-2007
Start time: 10:15 AM
Weather: Cool, sunny, and wonderful!
Water consumed: ~500 ml
Finish time: 2:15 PM
Total time: 4 hrs
Beauty: This hike offered expansive views from on top of Black Mountain and a pretty tree shaded walk along the Stevens Creek Nature Trail.
Wildlife seen: Lots of deer!
Difficulty: This was a moderately easy hike for the distance and hills. There was significant elevation change but most of it was stretched out over distance and included adequate switch backs.
1-Jan-2007
Until this day, I had never hiked in the Monte Bello Open Space Preserve before and I took the opportunity to join a small group hike organized by Tom Mangan for my first hike of 2007. Tom maintains a great site and has a hiking blog, Two Heel Drive, which is where I found out about his New Year’s Day hike.
I met Tom and the other hikers for the first time in the parking lot at about 10 AM and we took off for the hike about 15 minutes later. We started out from the parking lot on the Canyon Trail, walking in open grass land. Eventually we came to the Bella Vista Trail which we took up to the Old Ranch Trail and that hooked up with Monte Bello Road which goes up to Black Mountain.
The hike up to Black Mountain from the parking area was perhaps a 2.5 mile walk or so and we set an easy pace while stopping to take pictures along the way. The trail was in good condition too, nice and dry as compared to the industrial strength mud I faced at Las Trampas the previous Wednesday.
And while hiking up to Black Mountain, we were generally shielded from winds and the exercise kept us plenty warm. After we got to the top though, we stopped for lunch and as we did, we cooled down in the chilly air. It wasn’t long before we bundled up a bit and I think we all put on gloves. I certainly did.
It was a spectacular day though and the views from the top were great. And Jean had brought along baked chestnuts that she shared with the rest of us and they were sure good.
I didn’t note how long we stayed at the top for lunch but I would say it was at least a half hour, maybe longer, and then we continued on, initially heading back the way we came up on Monte Bello Road. When we came to the Indian Creek Trail though, we took it to hike a loop back instead of a simple there and back hike.
The Indian Creek Trail descends down and I suspect it would provide a bit of a workout hiking up it. Eventually it connected with a section of the Canyon Trail which took us to the Stevens Creek Nature Trail. The Stevens Creek Nature Trail took us into the shade of trees along Stevens Creek which we crossed several times on little wooden bridges. There was one spot were we crossed the creek walking on exposed rocks though.
After that the trail headed up and back to the parking lot and it wasn’t long before the hike was over and we all headed home. I am looking forward to returning in the spring though for the wildflowers and a more serious attempt at photography. In the meantime, this was an easy enough hike that I would recommend, especially for people who don’t want to put up with the toe-jamming knee-busters like most of the hikes I have been doing.
National Geographic TOPO! software website:
12-May-2007
For this return to Montebello, I joined up with the “Let’s hike and maybe take a break if we get tired” Meetup.com hiking group organized by Maura. We took a different and reverse route through the park for this hike as compared to my first hike there back in January.
Our route for this hike was: White Oak Trail -> Indian Creek Trail -> Monte Bello Road -> Black Mountain and then returning via Monte Bello Road -> Old Ranch Trail -> Bella Vista Trail -> Canyon Trail -> end. My GPS put this hike at 6.8 miles with 1300 feet of total elevation gain. The climb up the Indian Creek Trail accounted for most of that.
The weather for the hike was perfect, sunny with scattered clouds and cool breezes (mid 60’s F) and the hills were still green from the sparse winter rains even though the rest of the Bay Area was already turning brown. Since I have more pictures from my first visit below, I’ll just put in a couple here to celebrate the hike:
Maura leads the way on the White Oak Trail.
We divided into smaller groups for the hike and one group is up ahead on the trail.
It was drier up near the top of Black Mountain but dig the colors!
We met up again with as a large group and had a lunch break on Black Mountain.
An old snag on the way back. We thought it looked like a hungry Tyrannosaurus Rex ready to pounce. Anyway, it was a short but gorgeous hike and a great day out!
