Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve - Redwood City, CA

Selfie pic before the hike - featuring, from Left to Right, Bloo, Laura & Git

The Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve is part of the Midpennisula Regional Open Space District. It is dog friendly and mainly why I chose it for this particular walk/hike. Ryan and I adopted a 9 month old black lab 2 weeks ago and we have been slowly introducing her to car rides, adventures and socializing with other dogs and humans.

Laura and Bloo with the dogs - Louie (Bichon/Poodle mix) and Marley (black lab mix)

This open space has a partially paved access road which is closed off to cars which is nice. I presume its for emergency or fire access only and perhaps the water department as there appeared to be a small pump house just past the entrance. The road is fairly wide, allowing enough space between you and other people that may be walking by with their four legged dog friends as well. The Cordilleras Trail, which is front end of the fire access road, leads to the Hassler Trail and Hassler Loop Trail. The Hassler trails are also paved and create a nice, big loop from the parking lot up to the top of the hill/ridge and back down to the lot.

The incline to the top is moderate, but lengthy so it is a good work out as you are going uphill for awhile. Even the dogs were slowing down a bit. We went with my friend Laura, who also just adopted a dog about 6 weeks ago. The grass and shrubbery on the edges of the trail is thick and not maintained so use caution when walking along the edge as there was patches of poison oak and there could be ticks. It is spring and the ticks are out. Be sure to check your dogs coat thoroughly for ticks afterwards as well.

The Bay Area was experiencing a heat wave last weekend and it was hot the day we went, about 86 degrees. Some of the trail was sheltered from the sun with tree cover and shade, but the majority was not. The sun was right on us, so be sure to bring water for both you and the dog. The dogs stopped frequently for water breaks.

Although we did not venture off of the access road, there were a couple of other trails that veered off the main road. These trails were on-leash only trails for the dogs and from first glance appeared to be more traditional looking narrow, dirt trail paths, but I cannot be sure as we did not go on them. The main access road does lead to an area that is off-leash for the dogs (see trail map clip below), but it is more or less a big open space area that is not enclosed.

The overall perimeter boundaries of the park are fenced and are signed, but the off-leash area is not fenced in. When we were there, the off-leash area was very overgrown and given the time of year with the potential ticks I did not want to risk it. Also, some areas were so grown in that I would not have been able to see the dog and keep track of her if she took off on one of her squirrel chasing or ground sniffing adventures. Perhaps it does not always look like this, however, I did not see any other dog owners letting their dogs off-leash either so I thought it wise to do the same.

The Cordilleras Trail to Hassler Loop Trail that we did was approx. 2 miles round trip, but as mentioned before, the incline up to the top of the hill on Hassler Loop is continual and moderately steep - like walking a neighborhood hill in San Francisco :)

As always, have fun and enjoy your hiking adventures!!