Home»Portola Valley Ranch, Windy Hill, Etc.»Coal Mine Ridge Nature Preserve of PVR»Trails of Coal Mine Ridge, Portola Valley Ranch»Walking Down Coalmine Trail

Starting at the Grandmother Tree at the junction near the crest of Coal Mine Ridge, Coalmine Trail leads along the top of the Ridge, back down. A little way along, an opening in the trees reveals a nice view of the Peninsula, San Francisco Bay, to Mt. Diablo in clear weather.

A little more open than Toyon Trail, still mostly wooded, Coalmine Trail has room for many flowers in spring. It passes a seasonal vernal pond. Switchbacks reveal different perspectives on ancient Bay trees, with a glimpse of the grasslands beyond. Mid Old Spanish Trail is out there: it shares the same termini but takes a lower route. Past the connector trail to Lower and Mid Toyon Trails, Coalmine Trail climbs up to the Water Tank and a junction with Mid and Lower Old Spanish Trails. I encountered a shy deer one day, in the tangled forest just below the Water Tank, as I was coming the other way.

The width of Coalmine Trail allows people to walk abreast, and make way for the very occasional equestrian.