Group Hike: San Bruno Mountain State Park (Solar System Hike)

When: All year 
Where: San Bruno Mountain County Park (555 Guadalupe Canyon Parkway, Brisbane, CA 94005)
Who: All ages - there are stroller friendly trails
Cost: $6 for parking (free if you have a San Mateo County Parks Pass)

For Astronomy Week (Nov 14-21), San Mateo County Parks launched a "Solar System to Scale" hike at San Bruno Mountain County Park. The hike spans three trails (Saddleback, Old Guadalupe and Bog) for approximately 4-5 miles. Starting from the Saddleback trailhead, hikers can "walk the solar system" with panels placed en route to denote the sun and eight planets along the way. The panels will only be available a few months, but you can use the trail map to replicate it.  

Trail map from San Mateo County Parks

The beginning of the trail is a breeze, you can see Mercury and Venus at a stone's throw. The signs were placed just beside the trail, so you could pause to read them without blocking others (the trail was also wide enough for social distancing).

You then start a gradual uphill climb - the incline is easy enough for strollers. Soon, the Earth panel looms into view.

Then, more gradual uphills for a while with views of the bay in the distance.. don't rush to take a photo, there will be much better views later, and then you see.. Mars!

The path continues upward, and it will be a while before you reach the Jupiter panel. This is when the hike starts to feel long for little ones, and also for families with strollers because of the gravel.There are grandiose views of the bay to the right - we used our binoculars to look at cargo ships; still children may start to flag especially if they have been running back and forth as children are wont to do.

After Jupiter, there is an opportunity to shortcut back on the Youth Camp trail. If you decide to go on though, there is a lookout  point where you can get sweeping views of San Francisco.

The trail leads downhill from here, and again the distance is long, bringing home how far apart the planets are. The scenery changes - eucalpytus trees, and to the left a field with blackish branches which led us to speculate.

The trail then rejoins the Old Guadalupe Trail. This is paved and flat, winding between groves of eucalyptus. At this point, you are supposed to take the Bog Trail twice to simulate the distance. Confession: We did it once.. it wasn't that inspiring and we were low on energy. At least we got a picture of the Uranus panel, like good space tourists!

After the Bog Trail, you can tell you are near the end of the trail from the sounds of cars and people. Just a little more and you see the final panel, as well as the parking lot. Congratulations! You've completed a whirlwind tour of our solar system!

Looking back, this was a great hike - wide trails, good views and the planet panels certainly added novelty. We would definitely recommend a shortcut for those with young ones, or plan to walk it over two trips using the Youth Camp Trail as a shortcut.