Golden Gate - Phleger Estate - Woodside, CA
Posted by: 
DougK
N 37° 26.051 W 122° 19.005
10S E 560445 N 4143258
This tranquil park was once severely logged and century-old redwood stumps and remnants of steam mills are still in evidence. But along its miles of trails, and tumbling creeks, second-growth redwoods and firs are rising again.
Waymark Code: WMFBEG
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 09/24/2012
Views: 4
After gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in 1848, San Francisco’s population exploded. The need to build homes, hotels, businesses, and other buildings helped fuel a lucrative logging industry, including Phleger Estate.
Union Creek, which winds along the estate’s eastern edge, once powered more than a dozen mills. The mill operations were seasonal during the wet winter months. From 1852-1855, entrepreneur Willard Whipple logged the area and traces of the upper and lower mill still remain on site today.
Herman Phleger, a respected San Francisco lawyer, and his wife Mary Elena Phleger bought the large country house above West Union Creek (then known as Mountain Meadow) in 1931. They were early supporters of the Save-the-Redwoods League and in 1994 Mary Phleger sold the estate to the Peninsula Open Space Trust. The land was later turned over to National Park Service management and became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
Trails are open to hikers and equestrians. From Bay Area Hiker:
Four paths comprise the trail network at this shark tooth-shaped (as GGNRA describes it) park. Miramontes enters Phleger from Huddart, follows along West Union Creek, then climbs to meet Mt. Redondo Trail and Raymundo Trail. These can be combined to create a close to 7 mile loop. Or, start at Huddart, take Miramontes to Mt. Redondo, then climb to Skyline Boulevard on Lonely Trail, enter Huddart on Skyline Trail, and descend back to the trailhead on Crystal Springs Trail. This is a nice long, yet pretty easy about 8.5 mile loop, almost entirely shaded.
Getting there:
- From Interstate 280 in San Mateo County, exit CA 84 (Woodside Road). Drive west about 1.5 miles, then turn right onto Kings Mountain Road. Drive about 2 miles on this narrow and winding road (watch out for deer, cyclists, and motorcyclists), then turn right into Huddart County Park. Once past the entrance kiosk, park in the lot on the left.
- You may also enter the park from Skyline Boulevard. Park at near the posted coordinates for gate H15 into Huddart Park, and then walk north into Phleger along the Lonely Trail.
- A third access is via Crystal Springs Trail east of Phleger. This saves you the $5 entrance fee, but the walk to Crystal Springs Trail is not as pleasant as the wooded trails of Huddart. (If you're not familiar with the area, refer to a map.) Turn west off Cañada Road onto Runnymede, then park at the curve in the road, where Runnymede changes to Raymundo. Walk on the side of the road about .75 mile to the end of Raymundo, and take Crystal Springs Trail into Huddart (you come out on Richard's Road Trail), then turn right and hike a little over 0.5 mile to the Phleger entrance on the right side of the trail.