96. Purisima Creek and Harkins Ridge

Length:	7.5 miles round trip
Hiking time:	4 hours
High point:	1,600 feet
Total elevation gain:	1,200 feet
Difficulty:	moderate
Water:	bring your own
Maps:	USGS 7.5' Woodside
Information:	Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District

This redwood tree journey parallels cool and peaceful Purisima Creek, passes tranquil, natural herb gardens on the secluded Soda Gulch Trail, and finally travels a view-filled, slender finger of Harkins Ridge.

Turn east on Higgins-Purisima Road 1.3 miles south of the intersection of Highways 1 and 92 at Half Moon Bay. Park 4.5 miles farther near Purisima Creek.

The first mile along Purisima Creek Trail, a dirt road, stays level and shaded, with an equal mix of tall redwood, alder, and bigleaf maple. Come to a large clearing at 1.1 miles, which supports thistle, thimbleberry, poison hemlock, and a few rushes.

The trail noticeably ascends after crossing a bridge roofed by a drooping maple at 1.3 miles. Reach the Grabtown trailhead junction 0.1 mile farther and continue straight. You soon cross another bridge that overlooks a tributary originating from Soda Gulch, higher up to the left. Note the tall redwoods and towering maples that provide shelter for a lady fern community at creekside, then climb gently to the Soda Gulch Trail junction at 2.4 miles and go left.

The climb moderates as you leave the creek and enter a jungle of redwood and various herbs, including mint, mugwort, and nettle. At 3.5 miles observe two redwoods joined at the trunk, then continue to a sweeping view of the Santa Cruz Mountains at 3.7 miles. The narrow path arcs toward the distant Pacific Ocean at 4 miles and then enters dense chaparral.

As you approach the top of a knoll, you'll have another view of the Santa Cruz Mountains rolling into Half Moon Bay. California poppy, cow parsnip, and yerba santa then decorate the landscape leading up to the Harkins Ridge Trail junction at 4.8 miles, where you bear left.

Harkins Ridge Trail, another dirt road, takes you past blue blossom ceanothus and madrone with a back-setting of Purisima Creek's redwood groves as you gradually descend over the next 1.4 miles. Views disappear at 6.2 miles, where the trail bends toward Purisima Creek and descends more rapidly through shaded forest to the trailhead.