California’s Bay Area residents don’t need to drive 180 miles to Yosemite National Park to get their nature fix. Fortunately, the region’s hills and coastlines are peppered with smaller but beautiful wilderness areas, many within an hour’s drive of San Francisco. Among these are a few dozen open space preserves. These lands are set aside to protect ecosystems like coastal prairies, redwood forests, oak woodlands, and bayland salt marshes, among others — and one certainly worth checking out is Coal Creek Preserve.
About an hour’s drive south of San Francisco and a little less than an hour west of San Jose, the preserve is located in a hilly area on the eastern slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains. At around 500 acres, this preserve is smaller than others nearby. But it packs a lot of nature into its compact space: bright wildflowers in spring; juicy blackberries in summer; oak and maple trees that turn fiery colors in autumn; and seasonal waterfalls in winter. Its hills are thick with wildlife too, including rattlesnakes (watch out), coyotes, deer, bobcats, mountain lions, raccoons, skunks, and golden eagles.
A handful of hiking trails weave through the preserve. Most are on the shorter side but can be combined to achieve a longer route. Some trails, like the Alpine Road Regional Trail and the Coal Creek Double Loop, allow dogs, equestrians, and mountain bikers. The 2.4-mile Coal Creek Double Loop is a popular route with a 500-foot elevation gain leading to some lovely views of the surrounding Bay Area. Note that this trail and others in the preserve can get very muddy after rain, especially during the winter.
Hiking to the Coal Creek Preserve’s seasonal waterfall
Coal Creek Preserve certainly can’t compete with California’s “waterfall mecca” in the Shasta Cascade region, a few hundred miles to the north. But seasonal waterfalls are visible from some of the preserve’s trails in the rainier winter season, and they’re an easy day trip for folks in the Bay Area…