The Bay Area Ridge Trail, a 550-mile ridgeline route that National Geographic once named among its “100 Hikes of a Lifetime,” grew significantly longer this week.
A new six-mile segment called the Skyline Watershed Ridge Trail has opened to the public on Monday, August 24, bringing the Bay Area Ridge Trail’s completed total to 413 miles and unlocking new public access to a stretch of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s tightly guarded Peninsula Watershed.
The new segment comes just a few months after the Bay Area Ridge Trail opened the nearby 5.4-mile Southern Skyline Ridge Trail.
A protected landscape finally open to hikers, cyclists, and equestrians
The new out-and-back Skyline Watershed Ridge Trail runs along SFPUC property parallel to Skyline Boulevard, extending six miles south from Highway 92 in San Mateo County. It complements the existing 10-mile Fifield-Cahill Ridge Trail on the northern side of Highway 92, giving the public a second corridor into the 23,000-acre Peninsula Watershed, which is located about 13 miles south of San Francisco.
As part of the broader project, the SFPUC also completed the Watershed Discovery Trail, a half-mile accessible loop adjacent to the Fifield-Cahill Ridge Trail.
Trail details and accessibility
The trail passes through the Peninsula Watershed‘s grasslands, coastal scrub, Douglas fir forests, and redwood groves, with views stretching across the Pacific Ocean, San Francisco Bay, and Crystal Springs Reservoir. The land is home to more than 165 bird species, 800 plant and tree species, 50 mammal species, and 30 reptile and amphibian species, and it sits on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Ramaytush people of the San Francisco Peninsula.
Ten interpretive panels along the route explain the watershed’s ecology and its central role in the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System, which delivers drinking water to 2.7 million Bay Area residents.
The trail features a six-foot-wide, all-weather surface with a mix of level stretches and steeper grades, making it accessible to a range of fitness levels.
What to know before you go
📅 Opening date: Monday, August 24
⏰ Hours: Open daily from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
📍 Location: SFPUC’s Peninsula Watershed in San Mateo County, running parallel to Skyline Boulevard and extending south from Highway 92
🥾 Trail distance: 6-mile out-and-back route, newly added to the Bay Area Ridge Trail network
🎟️ Permit: A free permit is required before entering; visitors can apply online through SFPUC’s trail permit system
🚗 Parking: Free parking is available at the northern trailhead for 22 standard vehicles, five trailers, and two accessible vehicles
🚻 Facilities: Pit toilets are located near mile markers 2 and 5