Only minutes from Palo Alto, Windy Hill offers terrific views and relatively gentle and mostly shaded climbs. No surprise, then, that PARC's annual September Windy Hill trail run draws many regulars as well as runners coming to the Peninsula for the school year who are looking to learn the local trails and meet other trail runners. As an added bonus, the infamous East and North Bay trail & ultra runners of B.A.R.F. will join us for our yearly get together on this run.

When Saturday September 12, 2009. Meet at 8:15am for an 8:30am start. Carpool will leave at 8:00am from the Park&Ride lot at 280 and Page Mill Road.

Where Windy Hill Open Space Preserve, Portola Road, Portola, CA. There is no parking fee. More park info can be found here.

The parking lot for the lower portion of the preserve is located on Portola Road. Take 280 North to Alpine Road, exit Alpine Road. Go south on Alpine Road about 2.9 miles to Portola Road (the first stop sign). Turn right on Portola Road and travel 0.8 miles to the parking lot on the left side of the road. Here is the Google Maps location.

What A long (about 12.35 miles, 1,400 feet vertical) and an intermediate run (about 8 miles, 1,400 feet vertical).

This is a remote trail run and each runner must carry at least one water bottle. To avoid having to search for lost runners we ask every runner to find other runners of approximately the same running ability to form a group. The runners in each group must be able to account for their partners to make sure nobody is lost.

As usual, there will be a runner's potluck after the run, so please bring food or drink to share.

Why A shaded switchbacked and very runnable climb brings us to one of the most inspiring views in the Bay area with almost surreal grass covered hills dropping away at your feet towards the Bay, with views of the Pacific, Mt. Diablo, and Mt. Tam all right there on a clear day. Of the PARC monthly trail runs, this run is the closest to Palo Alto and is frequently the most popular of our trail runs.

More Info Contact or .

An online map of Windy Hill OSP can be found here. We will provide printed copies of the map at the run. All distances are approximate. The start of the run is a bit confusing as several small trail segments are not named or signed. The basic idea is to follow trails South to the Hamms Gulch Trail. The long and short runs both stay together until reaching the peak.

Intermediate Run: 8.0 miles
SEGMENT	MILES	TOTAL
Exit at end of parking lot opposite the driveway	0.1	0.1
L on Spring Ridge Tr. (stay to left of pond)	0.6	0.7
S on Meadow(?) Tr. (marked to Hamms Gulch Tr.)	0.1	0.8
L on unnamed trail(?) (marked to Hamms Gulch Tr.)	0.2	1.0
S on Hamms Gulch Tr. (@Meadow Tr., downhill for a bit here)	0.4	1.4
R on Hamms Gulch Tr. (up up up you go)	2.6	4.0
R on Lost Tr. (portapot at the end of this segment)	0.4	4.4
R on Anniversary Tr.	0.4	4.8
L to Summit	0.2	5.0
Backtrack to Anniversary Tr.	0.2	5.2
L on Anniversary Tr. (part ways with long run here)	0.3	5.5
R on Spring Ridge Tr.	1.6	7.1
L on Spring Ridge Tr. (@ Meadow Tr.)	0.3	7.4
L on Betsy Crowder Tr.	0.6	8.0
L back to parking lot	0.1	8.1
Long Run: 12.35 miles
SEGMENT	MILES	TOTAL
Exit at end of parking lot opposite the driveway	0.1	0.1
L on Spring Ridge Tr. (stay to left of pond)	0.6	0.7
S on Meadow(?) Tr. (marked to Hamms Gulch Tr.)	0.1	0.8
L on unnamed trail(?) (marked to Hamms Gulch Tr.)	0.2	1.0
S on Hamms Gulch Tr. (@Meadow Tr., downhill for a bit here)	0.4	1.4
R on Hamms Gulch Tr. (up up up you go)	2.6	4.0
R on Lost Tr. (portapot at the end of this segment)	0.4	4.4
R on Anniversary Tr.	0.4	4.8
L to Summit	0.2	5.0
Backtrack to Anniversary Tr.	0.2	5.2
R on Anniversary Tr. (part ways with short run here)	0.4	5.6
L on Lost Tr.	0.4	6.0
S on Lost Tr. (@Hamm's Gulch)	1.7	7.7
L on Razor Back Ridge Tr.	2.3	10.0
L on Eagle Tr. (on and off the road for a bit)	0.6	10.6
L on Road (to Hamms Gulch Tr.)	0.1	10.7
R on Hamms Gulch Tr.	0.4	11.1
L on Meadow Tr.	0.4	11.5
R on Spring Ridge Tr.	0.3	11.8
L on Betsy Crowder Tr.	0.6	12.4
L back to parking lot	0.1	12.5


September Trail Run	Monthly Trail Run