Dan's Outside

Sanborn Park Hike

Sanborn Park Hike

It is so beautiful here – and I’ve had such a busy week – that I had to get out for a second hike this weekend. I went to Sanborn Park above Saratoga, which is less than a 1/2 hour drive from home.

“I had forgotten that there are redwoods this close to the valley”

I don’t hike here a lot, though I used to quite a few years ago. In fact, there was a time when I used to run a good part of the hike I did today.

I headed up the Sanborn Trail which is an unrelieved climb with the exception of a few brief level spots. In places the climb is actually quite steep. It starts on a one-lane paved road through the Sanborn campground. The road soon turns to dirt and then ends at a turn-around loop. The trail leaves the road here and soon enters forest as it continues to climb. Eventually it passes through some redwood groves and then finally attains the ridge just below Skyline Road.

I had forgotten that there are redwoods this close to the valley. I’ll be that quite a few people who live within miles of this area are not even aware of it.

From here I followed the Skyline Trail to the entrance to Castle Rock State Park and then up the short trail to Castle Rock, where I stopped for about 5 minutes for a snack and water before starting back.

The return trip was not surprisingly a bit faster than the trip up to the ridge and I completed the approximately 8 1/2 mile round trip in about 3 hours and 15 minutes.

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March 14, 2004 - Posted by gdanmitchell | Trails