Sweeney Ridge on a Gusty Spring Day
Bay Area Ridge Trail Stats
Section: Sweeney Ridge
Trail Mileage: 3.2 miles
My total miles to date: 31.7 miles
Date Hiked: 3.27.2022
Difficulty: Easy - Moderate
The Full Hike: Ridge Trail out-and-back from Skyline College to Portola Gate. Will be signed as the Notch Trail and Sweeney Ridge Trail. 6.4 miles total.
Logistics
None involved. Completed this as an out-and-back hike from the open space preserve parking lot on Highway 35 & Alpine Rd.
Parking
Skyline College Parking Lot B, in spaces designated for GGNRA on weekends & holidays.
Strava
Trail Notes
Sweeney Ridge is a hike I’ve partially done twice before, from two different trailheads. It’s a pretty popular hike due to the proximity to San Bruno, and also allows cyclists on some of the trails. I had 2 other plans for this weekend before I ended up at Sweeney Ridge. First, I was supposed to hike the Fifield-Cahill portion of the Ridge Trail. Then, I planned an overnight trip to Big Sur. But, once the weather report came in and showed possible rain of over 1 inch in the Big Sur area, I wasn’t really feeling that anymore. So, here I am back to hiking the Ridge Trail.
We started at Skyline College. The parking situation was a little confusing, but we happened upon the reserved spots for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area which would hopefully guarantee us not getting a ticket since we didn’t have the college parking permits (we did not get a ticket. Yay!). We started on the Notch Trail, which started climbing immediately on a very wide gravel path and made its way up to an abandoned and graffitied concrete building. Ignoring the human element of the area, the view was pretty great. We could see so much of the surrounding hills, San Francisco, and the Bay. This view continued for basically the whole hike.
After reaching this crest, the trail descended steps and then sharply climbed up another hill before linking up with the trail from Mori Ridge. After this point, the trail was essentially flat, with only mild ups and downs. The views from Sweeney Ridge are pretty great. You get the ocean on one side, and San Francisco Bay, with views of Mt. Diablo on the other. On a clear day, you can see for miles! After 3.2 miles of hiking, we reached the Portola Gate, where the closed portion of the trail resides. This is the location where a guided hike is required for the next ~8 miles. With the storm moving in and the wind picking up, we hiked with a bit of a clip back the way we came, eager to get back to the warmth of the car and watch the rain fall from home.
The history of Sweeney Ridge is pretty interesting. On a failed Spanish exploration where settlers unknowingly passed Monterey Bay, they ended up in the Santa Cruz Mountains. This party met a huge community of Ohlone people, who led them to “Discovery Point” on the ridge and saw the San Francisco Bay for the first time. Of course, this “discovery” would eventually lead to the demise of many Ohlone people. Fast-forward many centuries, and Sweeney Ridge was the home to a control center for potential missile launching during the Cold War. Thankfully, they never needed to be deployed, and the area was decommissioned in 1974. Given our current political tensions with Russia, Mom and I pondered if all of the weapons are truly gone from the area ; ). Fast forward a few years and citizens of the Bay fought to protect Sweeney Ridge from housing developments and a new freeway. It’s hard to imagine this trail and view being ruined by something like a freeway.
Pondering the history of a trail like this while hiking gives a lot of context to our world. I feel lucky to have the opportunity to hike along this ridge, but also mourn what it was like back in the days when the Ohlone people were the main population here.