Purisima creek Redwood Preserve

Purisima Creek Redwood Preserve is one of the most popular open space preserves in the SF bay area, and for good reason; the trails here offer sweeping views of the ocean and the surrounding mountains. We hiked the Whittemore Gulch and Harkins loop trail in early May - it was early spring and the wildflowers were in full bloom!

We headed off early in the darkness, with our headlamps on. The initial part of the trail is steep downhill, which makes it hard on my knees, especially when I am not warmed up. The trails here are pretty intense, steep downhill first and uphill back. The beauty though is that we get to see sunrise over the Pacific. Accompanied by the beautiful, sunrises on this part of the coast are a privilege. Given that it was early spring wildflowers were everywhere - blue bells, poppies etc. The wildflower season on the mid peninsula is not intense but still colorful nonetheless. I found a patch of beautiful blue bells at the base of Coastal redwoods.

We ran into a mother black tailed deer and fawn feeding by the trail. They scampered off waiting for us to pass through and then came back and started feeding on whatever they were munching on.

Once you hit the base of the trail you will see the beautiful Purisima creek running through the valley. The water is crystal clear and the creek looks like it is out of post card. We didn't see a lot of hikers when we started, but there were quite a few when we were finishing up. This trail is also fairly popular with the runners, we saw many groups of them run past us. Overall it is one of the most scenic hikes I have been on the mid peninsula area and would highly recommend it!