History of an Urban Trail

History of an Urban Trail

by Naseem Badiey, PhD – SolYoga Contributing Writer

The San Francisco Bay Area encompasses various cities that encircle the bay, an estuary that spans 60 miles by 12 miles. Some of the cities, San Francisco and Oakland, for example, are more urban than towns like Berkeley and Palo Alto. But even in this large metropolitan area, nature creeps up, peacefully persisting despite the hustle and bustle. One spot that always takes my breath away is the Sawyer Camp Trail, overlooking the majestic Crystal Springs reservoir at the intersection of highways 92 and 280. This is my local trail, just ten minutes from my house. I go there when I want to get away from the town of San Mateo, when I want to spend a few minutes celebrating something in solitude – my birthday, a feeling of gratitude, or just a warm day. I have spent many hours here; my feet have left marks all along this path. But I have never wondered, until now, how this trail came to be. A few clicks later, and I am surprised to find that no single person, no planner, or parks and recreation official, was responsible for this beautiful path. Rather, it is the product of many people’s efforts, who together, spanning cultures, goals, and even centuries, created a trail that has become one of the most popular in San Mateo County – with nearly 300,000 visitors a year.

In the past few hundred years various groups of people have walked along the Sawyer Camp trail. Hundreds of years ago the area was home to Shalshone Indians. Then, in the late 18th century, Gaspar de Portola and his men came over Sweeney Ridge and camped in the area. De Portola was a soldier in the Spanish army, and later became governor of Baja and Alta California, and founder of San Diego and Monterey. Leander Sawyer bought the land in 1853, grazed cattle to control the brush, and used the trail to provide access to his camp where he kept an inn for horseman. In the late 1800s performing circus horses were trained here. Many years later, the City of San Francisco took over the surrounding watershed lands as a part of their Hetch Hetchy water system. The narrow fire road was kept open as a public roadway, but fenced in to protect the watershed, which supplies drinking water to San Francisco and peninsula communities. In 1978, San Mateo County closed the road to motorized vehicles, but kept it open as a trail for recreational use. Future plans for expansion of the trail will provide an uninterrupted, non-motorized, multi-use route from the City of San Bruno to the Town of Woodside.

As I walk along this trail, inhaling the scent of Laurel trees, and gazing at the circling hawks and the birds swimming in the lake, I try to walk in the footsteps of the men and women and creatures who came before me. I am tired, and it’s time to go home, but I feel their spirit lifting my feet off the ground as the sun sets behind the dark green mountains.

What natural space in your city takes your breath away? Do you wonder who was there before you?