Coming soon!

5.4 Miles

After more than twenty years of anticipation, the wait is almost over—5.4 miles of brand-new Bay Area Ridge Trail will open on the San Francisco Peninsula in 2026. Led by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), with planning and support from the Ridge Trail, the Southern Skyline Ridge Trail will offer a spectacular new route parallel to Skyline Boulevard, just south of Highway 92. Complete with parking, interpretive signage and restrooms, the trail will soon welcome hikers, cyclists, and equestrians to explore this exceptional landscape for the first time.

North of Highway 92 lies the Fifield-Cahill Ridge Trail, accessible only through docent-led tours. In contrast, the new Southern Skyline segment will allow visitors to explore independently with a permit. As part of the project, Fifield-Cahill will be enhanced with a new parking area and a 0.5-mile loop trail designed to be accessible for those with mobility limitations.

While the new segment greatly expands recreation opportunities, this new trail will not yet connect with existing Ridge Trail to the north or south. To the north there is currently no safe way to cross Highway 92 between Skylawn Memorial Park and the new trail. Closing this gap will require advocacy, planning, and funding—but opening the Southern Skyline Extension makes it a higher priority than ever.

To the south, the trail will end near–but not connect to–Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve. Progress is underway to create a safe crossing of Skyline Boulevard. Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, with funding support from the Ridge Trail Action Fund, is leading the design and construction of a crossing and an expanded parking lot that is expected to open in the next few years.

Construction is currently underway on the Southern Skyline Ridge Trail, with a public opening expected in 2026. This project stands as a powerful example of how public access and habitat protection can go hand in hand—opening one of the Bay Area’s most scenic ridgelines to a new generation of explorers.

Dedicated: May 30, 2025

14.1 Miles

On a beautiful morning in late May, the sun spilled over the ridgelines, lighting up wild grasses and casting long shadows across the trail. At the Casa Loma Staging Area, hikers, cyclists, equestrians, and community members gathered to celebrate a milestone nearly three years in the making: the dedication of a spectacular 14.1-mile section of the Ridge Trail in Santa Clara County—one of the largest stretches ever to be added to the Ridge Trail network at once.

This new route winds through the rolling beauty of Rancho Cañada del Oro Open Space Preserve and Calero County Park, offering panoramic views of the Diablo Range to the east and the Santa Cruz Mountains to the west.

The celebration brought together partners whose vision made this dedication possible: State Senator Dave Cortese; Patrick McGarity representing Supervisor Sylvia Arenas; Todd Lofgren of Santa Clara County Parks; Virgilio Cuasay of the State Coastal Conservancy; Andrea Mackenzie of the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority; and Janet McBride of the Ridge Trail. Mackenzie summed it up perfectly: milestones like this are “fueled by collaboration, thoughtful stewardship, and a shared vision for equitable access to nature.”

The journey to this point began with a route study, generously funded by the WoodNext Foundation and the State Coastal Conservancy. Ridge Trail staff and partners analyzed 46 possible trail alternatives, ultimately mapping a bold 31-mile planned route from Mount Madonna to Almaden Quicksilver County Park. This newly dedicated segment completes 40% of that re-route—extending the Ridge Trail into one of the most remote and least developed parts of the Bay Area.

Santa Clara County hosts more Ridge Trail miles—current and planned—than any other county in the Bay Area, and more are on the horizon. The next step: extending the trail further south through a yet-to-be-opened part of Rancho Cañada del Oro, in partnership with the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority and supported by the Ridge Trail Action Fund. As Supervisor Arenas reminded us, this is “more than just recreation—it’s about connecting families to open space, neighborhoods to nature, and our communities to each other.”

Dedicated: May 3, 2025

2.5 Miles

In early May, the Ridge Trail marked an exciting milestone with a ribbon-cutting for a new 2.6-mile segment at Coyote Lake–Harvey Bear Ranch County Park. This extends the Ridge Trail northward into the recently opened 2,741-acre Coyote Canyon area. Along this new segment, nearly a mile of trail meanders the ridgeline, offering sweeping views of Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San José, and the Santa Cruz Mountains. Just beyond, another two miles follow the newly built Ojo de Agua Trail, constructed by Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship, a nonprofit trail-building organization. With this dedication, the park now boasts more than eight miles of Ridge Trail.

Here, trail users will experience varied terrain, including panoramic vistas, open grasslands, and regular wildlife sightings of coyotes and deer. In addition to hiking, biking and horseback riding, the park features camping for extended stays, picnic areas, fishing, and boating, making it the perfect destination for a day trip or weekend adventure. The short, but significant, new Ridge Trail segment advances progress toward future regional connections north to Anderson Lake County Park and east to Henry Coe State Park. Strong collaboration with Santa Clara County Parks has made these developments possible, as the County has incorporated these connections—and other planned Ridge Trail sections—into its Countywide Trails Master Plan.