#74 San Pedro Valley County Park, Pacifica

Have you ever been to Hawaii? I went for the first time this July to Oahu to visit my fabulous friends Ry and Beth. They were really great, and took the time to show me lots of the natural sites. Hawaii was unlike anything I had seen previously; it has a stunning natural beauty. And if you visit San Pedro Valley County Park in Pacifica and do the Brook Falls Loop, you will be reminded of Hawaii and feel the same awe and appreciation of the natural world that Hawaii evokes.


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On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day I drove down to Pacifica to do this hike and see if I could catch a glimpse of the 175 foot waterfall there. It only flows in winter, which is the rainy season here in the Bay Area. The hike consists of a 3 mile loop up and around a little mountain.

The park starts off at a pretty picnic area in a valley.

It then proceeds up through a mix of eucalyptus and probably native trees.

The first leg up the mountain was the sunny side.
After about 20 minutes of hiking up through this pretty forest, the scene opens up.

It was strikingly beautiful at the top, with hills looming tall and close.

Unfortunately, the waterfall wasn't flowing very much, although I could hear some splashing. The waterfall is the central crack in the picture above. Apparently it needs a really good rain to flow.

As I proceeded on I was treated to a most excellent surprise. The bushes that you can see in the bottom of the picture above are covered in flowers and positively infested with hummingbirds! I love hummingbirds!

Hummingbirds are very territorial, so when I started to walk through their bushes I could hear their piercing little cheeps from all directions, and one male started flying near my head to check me out. He had a gorgeous ruby-throat, and he's in the picture below. See if you can spot him.

I spent a little while enjoying the hummingbirds, and then proceeded up a bit more to the foggy side of the mountain. A mist started to materialize, and then it thickened, and I could just barely feel it on my face. Lovely. What a sense of adventure as I ran down through the misty eucalyptus.

I really enjoyed this brief hike. It took about an hour. I liked it so much that I in fact came back a few days later and brought a friend. On that day it wasn't foggy, and I could see fabulous views looking out over the town of Pacifica and over the magnificent Pacific itself.

After my hike on the first day I checked out the beach and the pier. There were LOTS of people surfing, perhaps 50. And people were out on the pier fishing. It was exciting to walk way out above the powerful surf.

I would definitely recommend this hike to anyone looking to get out of the city for a bit and experience some natural beauty. It's only about 20 minutes outside of SF!