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PHOTO-ESSAY. Labor Day Jim met me at the Grey Whale Cove Upper Parking lot to take me on me the 1 mile (one way) Green Valley Hike.
“The future Green Valley Trail begins in the southern parking area of the Devil’s Slide Trail, just south of the Devil’s Slide Tunnels in Pacifica. The trail crosses Highway 1 at the stoplight and then extends south along the eastern shoulder of Highway 1. The trail travels eastward along the north side of the Green Valley and south across Green Valley Creek before connecting to an existing California State Park service road within McNee Ranch that ultimately connects to the Gray Whale Cove State Beach parking lot.
The trail will cross Green Valley Creek, an intermittent stream draining into the Green Valley watershed. To minimize impacts to the stream channel and riparian ecosystem, a boardwalk or bridge is proposed to elevate trail users above the stream and wetlands.
The Green Valley Trail will be designed for pedestrian, equestrian and mountain bike use and will be composed of natural tread as much as possible.” ~ ARCGIS Website + Map Link
“Currently the trail is closed to the general public.
The volunteers regularly(weekly) remove trash and late night party remnants from the trail, have tallied over 1000 lbs of garbage in the last 2 years left by irresponsible visitors.” ~ Jim Sullivan
See how you can walk from Devils Slide south parking lot and along the east side of HWY 1?
2015 Green Valley Trail Public Workshop ~ Plans Stalled
[pdf-embedder url=”https://www.coastsidebuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Green-Vally-wksp.pdf” title=”Green Vally wksp”]
See how there is a little strip of parking above the bigger parking area? See the little strip of driveway going up to the parking lot? At its end is a gate where the Green Valley Trail starts.
Here is the old Military Base, now, sadly, a rave space, that Jim and Co. clean up regularly. They work with the San Mateo County Sheriff and County Parks to get the garbage taken away and fix the gate when the ravers break it.
Call it in if you see funny stuff like trucks with speakers and igloos heading back there.
Medical or other emergency dial 911
Otherwise:
For non-emergencies and to file a report with NPS Law Enforcement call (415) 561-5505.
San Mateo County Sheriff (650) 363-4911
Local authorities may respond more quickly in an emergency than park rangers.
NPS Park Rangers will still respond for reporting medical or law enforcement issues.
Meet Tanga, Jim’s Lab and biking/hiking/trail maintenance partner.
Here is Jim Sullivan explaining trail management. Keeping trails narrow actually slows down mountain bikers, which allows hikers to hike too. There is a LOT of poison oak. I’m really allergic to poison oak; Jim is not! That is how he and his friends manage to clear the trails. Imagine the trail below before clearing! For those allergic, I stuck to the middle of the trail and did not get any poison oak. I also took a cold shower and washed my clothes and shoes in warm water (which breaks down poison oaks urushiol oil).
See in the distance? That’s the old World War II military bunker off of highway one! Unique perspective.
Old telephone poles. This valley provided farm fresh food to people in San Francisco.
Can you see the troll? Jim likes to keep bumps like this in the trail to slow down speed demons and to create a fun technical experience. He is a Champion mountain biker, after all.
Hello! See his eyes?
Tanga lovingly laps up Green Valley Creek water.
Jim battles pampas grass. He has trained Tanga to pull it out! If you see young sprouts, pull them out, and throw them on the trail. They will die before they can ever seed.
This is not a natural formation. It is where the railroad blasted tracks to Green Valley
Cal Trans roof garden. A mitigation to have their work space here. This shows the gap in the trail. You can see a snippet of the Cal Trans access road, just above the building. This is where the Green Valley trail needs to switch back down to. There is some private land to the left that would allow a more gradual connection, but they won’t sell.
On the Cal Trans access road heading to Hwy 1 Devils Slide.
To your right you can see the concrete barriers that allow pedestrian and bikers to make their way to the Devils Slide southern parking lot, via a cross walk. Safe and sound. Then continue on the
Smiling Jim Sullivan. Thanks for all your work Jim and Company.
The Volunteer Heroes of Green Valley!
L-R: Paul, Jim, Ron, Tim and John.
BONUS
Coastside Hike and Bike Trail Links, Maps and Etiquette
Author: Coastside Buzz
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