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Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary
District AG **** 2.5 miles Wet Weather
Yes MORE
INFO
Parking is right by the treatment plant, and the sulphur smell there
might put you off, but it disappears when you cross a concrete bridge
to the first pond. (Incline is steeper than 1/12 [1/8?] for about 10
feet at either end.) Picnic tables and drinking water for humans and
dogs are near the information signboard, but no map was posted there
when I visited. The trail is hard-packed well-graded gravel useable
in wet weather, though it's a slightly bumpy ride and some soft spots
make work for a manual chair user. It goes around the first, very appealing,
pond (which has the best birdwatching and benches on its far side) and
continues a good mile beyond it, past a second, less appealing pond
and along the north edge of a broad marsh. Details: From Highway 101, take Lucas Valley Road/Smith Ranch
Road exit, go east on Smith Ranch Road about 0.7 mile to McInnis Park;
turn left before the arched entrance to stay on Smith Ranch Road. Continue
about 0.8 mile to the the end of the road. Small parking lot can be
full on weekends; one van-accessible space. |
This
very accessible wetland restoration project offers great bird and wildlife
watching. You can take a 4+ mile hike on the levee maintenance road
(closed to cars) or, in just a few hundred feet, see lots of geese,
white pelicans, egrets, ducks and other waterbirds. Otters are reported,
but have so far eluded me. My last visit was on a warm June Saturday,
when we saw only four people during a walk around the first pond. We
speculated that potential visitors were scared off by the lack of shade
here, but there was a pleasant breeze off the Bay, and had we had time
to linger, a few of the benches are shaded by the few small trees planted
by the trail.
After
that, for another mile or so it's hard-packed dirt with irrigated fields
on the left; then it turns to a rough footpath that might be possible
but I haven't tried it yet. A bicyclist we met there said he had come
from Hamilton Airforce Base. Last visit June 2006