San Pedro Mountain, Devil Slide 7 mile loop
Views: Pacific Ocean
Crowd: On this route light
Average Speed: 2.8 mph
Stopped Time: 10 min (trying to find old overgrown trail)
Difficulty 1-5 for relative distance: 3 mainly for route finding
Bike: Yes Bikes
Dogs: Yes dogs
Cautions: Poison Oak - Watch for Bikes on the final accent back up! This is a narrow and difficult section to get out of the way of downhill riders.
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Hike Direction: North to South, Clockwise.
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Download GPX route: Click Here
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Parking: Free but limited in the Devil slide lot
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Driving Directions:
https://www.google.com/maps/dir//37.58536,-122.509998/@37.5853558,-122.5121886,17z/data=!3m1!4b1
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More info: http://parks.smcgov.org/devils-slide-trail
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And here: http://parks.smcgov.org/montara-mountain-trail
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The views are amazing, but unfortunately much of the trail is becoming overgrown. You will be semi-bushwhacking thru Poison Oak and route is difficult to follow. These two combined might over power the views and have you opt out for another route.
Shamrock Farms has closed the access to section of fire road that would make this loop much easier. This forces you to hike up a steep trail used by downhill MTBs.
The steep uphill (downhill MTB) trail is found by making a hard left after the paved Old San Pedro Mountain Road. Again, this is a steep narrow section used for downhill mountain bikers.. Use extreme caution an make sure to look up the trail as these riders will NOT be able to stop if your in the middle of the trail. There is not much room for the hiker to move without getting into the poison oak.
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Red = Out & Back (O/B) or Connection hikes
Green = Loops
Blue = Backpacking including Backpacking thru hikes
Light Blue = Thru hikes
Yellow = To-do Backpack
Pink = Smaller loop option
Orange = To-do
Purple = Bay Ridge Trail thru hikes
GENERAL NOTES:
• Total Elevation Gain reported by GAIA on IOS devices looks to be a bit under reported when compared to Garmin devices that feature Baro elevation correction. It has been left for consistency.
• I carried a full overnight weekend backpack and hiked solo, unless otherwise noted. This certainly slows the time and pace a bit. I did so initially for the workout, but now so that the pacing is consistent and thus more predictable for comparing hike to hike times.
• Often midweek you might not see another person on your loop. Some of the Best Hikes on the Peninsula are surprisingly remote.
• Some of the trails have sharp drops just off the edge of the single track. A fall off in the wrong spot could be very bad.
• Cell signal is spotty to non-existent in many of the areas.
• Carry a headlamp in case you get lost, delayed, over estimated your progress, when you have an afternoon start, etc.
• When Hiking Solo, consider carrying extra food, first aid, and shelter or bivy, in case you find yourself lost, injured or in the parks after dark. It could be better to shelter in place, than continue without working light, tripping and falling off a cliff or wandering lost thru the night.
• Wildlife consists not only of lizards, rabbits, birds (including turkeys and hogs in some of the areas) and deer, but I have seen or seen signs of coyote, bob cat, rattle snakes and even mountain lions in several of the preserves over the years.
Seems like the lizards make the most noise as the run thru the leaves, but note that on several occasions the rattle snakes did NOT rattle. It never hurts to be aware of where you are stepping.
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ABOUT DOGS AND BIKES:
Most of the hiking routes cover a large area and numerous hiking trails. While some of the hiking trails used to create the route might allow dogs or bikes, a "NO" for either is listed if at any point on the hike, a hiking trail used for the hike, has a "NO" sign is posted.
However, regardless of the signs posted, please note that you'll often still see both.