San Bruno - San Andreas Lake Trail

Spring is coming.. spring is coming.. I want to just spend the entire day outdoors and enjoy the beauty all around - flowers blooming, birds singing and everything welcoming the sunshine...

We decided to go to the San Andreas lake trail in Millbrae. The idea of a lake and natural beauty has its own draw. The trail is listed as an easy trail on All Trails and out and about 7 miles. You could argue there isn't a big area marked as a parking lot or a trail beginning. As you cross Skyline Blvd. you see a tiny parking area with parking for about 10 cars. We found parking and start walking. It's hard to say where the trial begins as it goes both ways. We checked the maps and started walking towards the lake. As we started walking we realized it is a connected trail and it all forms part of the San Francisco Peninsula Watershed. Trail Map

The trail runs parallel to the freeway on one side and has a picturesque view of the mountains on the other side. You can see and hear the freeway at times when you are walking but we have driven this route numerous times but never realized we were so close to a historic site. As we kept walking the scenery changed from a flat walk to some incline with curved paths lined with redwood trees and some fallen wood logs. One thing to note is that there aren't many benches along the trail so you have to use these wood logs ☺

The trail merges into the Crystal Sprint Sawyer trail after about a mile. As you cross the trail you see signs that talk about the history and how the Ohlone people used this place many many years ago. It also has signs that remind you that are walking along the very famous San Andreas fault line

After about 3 and a half miles we reached the lake. The walk is comfortable and with a leisurely pace, we reached in a little over an hour. The walk along the lake is pleasing with all-around greenery and California poppies blooming at places. 

The trail is not a loop so you have to turn around and walk back. We took a little snack break around the lake and then started walking back. The walk back felt a bit of a drag as you know what to expect. We were starting to get tired and hungry so the pace was slower. We did return back in another hour back to the parking lot. We were really hungry by now and ready to eat eat eat. Our very late lunch included a rice dish, idli, tofu, pasta, and mini samosas. Since there aren't many picnic spots or benches around we ate by our car. 

In summary, it was a fun, quick, and easy hike. If you want some views, some history, not a hard workout then I highly recommend the San Andreas Lake trail.

Lunch we took:

Idli, Pasta and chickpea and tomatoes, Mini samosa, Rice pilaf

Picture credits: V, Food credits - MAP

Metrics:

Hike Count: 7

Total Mile Count: 52