Weekly Walker: Milagra Ridge Trail, the Spine of the Golden Gate Recreation Area

[Editor's Note: Watch for this column each Thursday by San Carlos hiking enthusiast Tom Davids! Below is this week's hike to Milagra Ridge in Pacifica.]

By Tom Davids

Milagra Ridge - Pacifica

San Francisco Golden Gate National Recreation Area

Directions: From the mid-Peninsula, take Highway 280 north and exit Highway 35 (Skyline Boulevard). Continue on Skyline Boulevard. Go past San Bruno Avenue, Sneath Lane and College Drive to Sharp Park Road. Turn left (west on Sharp Park Road) and continue to the intersection with College Drive. Turn right (see Milagra Ridge sign), and continue to dead end. There is limited parking for seven vehicles. Stay away from curbs painted red and from resident parking at Skyglass Ridge townhomes.

Trail map: Google Milagra Ridge, GGNRA

Grade: Easy.

Distance: 1.5 miles.

Time: One or two hours.

Special Conditions: Be prepared for cool, windy, foggy weather along the ridge. This is a dog-friendly park, but leash is required. The paved trail is wheelchair accessible. Good for children on bikes or trikes and for strollers. Restroom at WWII gun battery. Milagra Ridge is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) and is administered by the National Park Service.

Milagra Ridge, along with Sweeney Ridge, forms the center spine for the Golden Gate National Recreational Area (GGNRA) parkland in San Mateo County. Milagra’s 240-acre ridgeline slopes to the east and west and extends down to the Pacifica Manor residential area. In the 1950s, the high point of the ridge was flattened for construction of a Nike missile site that was controlled electronically from an observation post on nearby Sweeney Ridge.

There are four endangered species in the GGNRA southern park areas. These include the San Francisco garter snake, the San Bruno elfin butterfly, and the Bay checkerspot and the Mission blue butterflies. Signs posted throughout Milagra note that the Mission blue and the San Bruno elfin have been spotted here and that restoration efforts are underway.

From the gate, continue along the asphalt road in a northwest direction. A facility of the local water district is on your left as the trail levels out with a view of the “summit” ahead. The trail continues level as it circles around a Nike missile site that was active from 1954 to 1974. The command center-observation post for this installation was on Sweeney Ridge 6.5 miles south. A few pine trees dot the landscape, but most of the landscape is low shrubs dominated by coyote brush.

At the next junction, turn right. The formal trail soon ends at a level area cleared years ago for some type of building. An informal sandy trail leads down the ridge, but turn back to the junction and climb a series of steps along a cable fence to the summit and then down again to the asphalt road. A right turn brings you to a gun placement known as Battery Construction No. 244. The battery included two guns, which were armed for only two years (from 1948 to 1950). This was one of the few gun placements (excluding Nike sites) constructed and armed after the end of World War II.

You may poke around the battery, but the base-end station located on the hillside above the battery is off-limits for endangered species restoration. Base-end stations were located at observation points remote to the battery. Peering through high-powered binoculars, men assigned to these stations reported their sightings to a central post (Sweeney Ridge), where the data was converted to aiming instructions and transmitted to the appropriate gun battery. From the battery, you can continue downhill on a dirt road and a level area overlooking Oceania High School in Pacifica.

To return to the trailhead, go to the end of an old service road from the battery and pick up a dirt trail marked “no bikes” that winds along the ridge. You can spot it by the low cable fencing along the way. You will now have good views to the south and west. Fog may obscure your view, especially of Montara Mountain, but you should be able to see the municipal fishing pier, Mori Point, Rockaway Point, and Pedro Point.

The trail climbs up 74 steps along a cyclone fence to the ridge top. On the other side of the fence is a buried reservoir operated by the local water district. From the high point, follow the cable fence back to the parking area.

This is an interesting, short walk suitable for all ages, including the family dog. If you pick a foggy afternoon, as we did, your views will be limited, but so much the better reason to visit Milagra again, and soon.  

By the Way…

There are four endangered species in the Milagra Ridge/ Sweeney Ridge area, including the San Francisco Garter Snake.  The snakes’ habitat is fresh water streams and marshes. It has a brilliant blue stomach, striped yellow and mossy green back, continuous orange/brown stripes on its sides, and is 2 feet long.  Watch for it.