Hike: Bay Area Ridge Trail - Windy Hill
This hike taught me to really pay attention to the map… On my quest to hike the Bay Area Ridge Trail (BART) section marked in the Windy Hill Open Space Reserve I invited my friend Jeff to join me and while the two of us spent quality time chatting and catching up on life we got quite lost…
Jeff and I decided to park one car at LP (bottom of the map) and the other car at the parking lot where the Fence Line, Anniversary, and Spring Ridge trails meet. LP was just big enough for a few cars to park so I wouldn’t recommend bringing a big group here. Our planned itinerary was to take the Fence Line Trail to reach the Lost Trail. After a brief glance at the map posted near the parking lot we walked forth into the large and welcoming path which we later realized was the Spring Ridge Trail which is shown in the photo below.
After about 20 minutes of a pleasant downhill stroll and beautiful clear views we realized that we were headed East instead of going South. Disgruntled, we turned around to go back up the hill and needed a breather at the top near the parking lot. We missed the entrance to the Fenceline Trail right behind the post. We followed what seemed to be the correct path as shown on the map but this didn’t have clear signage along the way. It had a gate that pedestrians could walk past and appeared to be a dirt road that ran alongside the main road. After a few minutes we had a brief moment of cell phone reception and noticed on google maps that, yet again, we somehow seemed to be slightly off the desired way.
Ironically, the place we were looking for is called Lost Trail... We followed some unmarked passages trying to get in the direction of our car. Of course during this time of confusion, there was no one else around to ask and it became very windy, true to the name of Windy Hill Space Reserve! This was my only time there but have heard from others that their experience was windy as well and that this is great place to fly kites and to go paragliding.
We kept a brisk pace to stay warm and enjoyed some mild up and down terrain beneath trees. The track we were on was winding and heavily shaded with a few overlooks to the East where we could see Silicon Valley. Eventually we made it to what appeared to be the Lost Trail on google maps and followed it to our car.
Overall the area was pleasant and showed signs of promise for nice views. The Spring Ridge Trail that we were briefly on had a decent amount of foot traffic and appeared to be the popular choice. This is a hike I will need to complete at some later time. On the Bay Area Ridge Trail website the 3.3 mile hike is rated as EASY. However, due to the difficulty of finding the correct path my review reflects the experience on nearby trails. This took place in 2017 and the area may be updated with signage since then. After corresponding with BART staff some time in 2017 I learned that this trail’s signage was to be updated in due time. Have you been to Windy Hill Open Space Preserve? What trails did you follow? Let me know your thoughts on it in the comments! For more information on this section of the Bay Area Ridge Trail check out this site.
