Bald Mountain Trail in the Sierra Azul

Bald Mountain Trail, a short and popular trail in the Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve near San Jose, California

The Bald Mountain Trail is a 1.4-mile out-and-back trail in California's Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve offering expansive views of steep chaparall and woodland, the prominent "sugar-cube" mountain peak called Mount Umunhum (Mt. Um), Almaden Valley, and the Diablo Range.

The trail ends into a small loop around the summit of Bald Mountain, which can easily be reached without any climbing challenges. Bald Mountain is a grassy knoll from where you can enjoy panoramic views of the South Bay and Santa Cruz Mountains [1-3].  

Bald Mountain, a grassy knoll and vista point

Open year-round, the Bald Mountain Trail is a walking, hiking and birding trail; exposed to sunshine on a clear day. Sorry—no dogs allowed. In the open sky, you may spot turkey vultures, red-tailed hawks, and Cooper's Hawks [4]. Coming out of the chaparral, you will recognize bird sounds:

The dominant bird voices of the chaparral include the loud squawks of California Scrub-Jay, the complex songs of California Thrashers, the dribble of Wrentits, the buzzing of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, the loud melody of Bewick's Wren and the flute-like warbling song of a Purple Finch. Non-singing Spotted Towhee, California Towhee and California Quail will be rustling about in the leaf litter and branches nearby. Many of these birds are skulkers and hard to spot in the tangle of chaparral, but just stand still and listen. The birds will soon adapt to your presence and expose themselves.  —  Edward Rooks [4]

View of Mt. Um with "sugar cube" 

Hike this trail with patience during the "right time", and you can enjoy solitude embellished by bird songs. 

Getting to the Bald Mountain Trailhead

The trailhead is accessible from the Bald Mountain parking area off Mt. Umunhum Road. Driving uphill to Mt. Um summit, watch out for the PARKING AREAS sign at "18200 Mt Umunhum Rd" (3.5 miles away from the summit parking area). Turn left to BALD MOUNTAIN. This is a popular spot. So, the early bird finds a vacant lot.

References and further reading

[1] Bald Mountain Trail, Sierra Open Space Preserve, Midpeninsula regional Open Space District, Santa Clara County. bahiker. URL: https://bahiker.com/southbayhikes/sierraazul/sierraazul.html.

[2] McCannster. Bald Mountain. Summitpost. URL: https://www.summitpost.org/bald-mountain/154539.

[3] Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve: Bald Mountain and Mt Umunhum Area. Trailhiker, May 6, 2015. URL: https://trailhiker.wordpress.com/2015/05/06/sierra-azul-open-space-preserve-bald-mountain-and-mt-umunhum-area/ .

[4] Edward Rooks. Bald Mountain Trail and Mt. Umunhum Trail in Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve (Spring). Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance, May 1, 2021. URL: https://scvbirdalliance.org/self-guided-birding/bald-mountain-spring#:~:text=As%20you%20leave%20the%20relatively,Turkey%20Vulture%2C%20Red%2Dtailed%20Hawk%20and.

Around the "sugar cube"

The "sugar cube" on Mount Umunhum south of San Jose, California

The historic “sugar cube”, a cold-war radar tower, is located on top of Mount Umunhum (3,486 feet or 1,063 m) in the Santa Cruz Mountains in California. This landmark cube can be seen from all over Silicon Valley and neighboring locations around San Francisco's South Bay. By making it to the top of Mount Um—as the mountain peak is called for short—you will have panoramic views of two bays: San Francisco Bay and Monterey Bay [1,2].

Stairway leading from the summit parking lot to the cube

From the summit parking, you may want to experience the scenery by taking the stairs up to sugar cube structure, where platform. From the cube's south side a downhill trail leads back to the parking area. At various site you will find illustrative information panels to immerse yourself in the local history to get engaged with the areas geography, ecology and recreational opportunities. 

Mount Umunhum Summit Shelter with viewing platform

Inspired by this exceptional place and the rich contextual displays, I have selected some topics I am sharing in the following. 

Once a military community

When I was living on the San Francisco Peninsula in the early 1990s, the sugar cube and its surroundings was still “off limits” —being a fenced-off Air Force Station from 1957 to 1980, which continued to be closed to the public until 2017 while proceeding with clean-up: removal of  3,000 cubic yards of hazardous materials, including lead paint, asbestos, fuel storage containers, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) transformers and other waste [2]. Finally, in 2025 I made it to the top and visited the site. 

During the time of the operation of an early warning radar station (1957-1980) hundreds of people lived in military housing. A panel describes the live of the military community at the Almaden Air Force Station: 

People recreated and entertained on the summit of Mount Umunhum in in the swimming pool, bowling alley, dining hall, non-commissioned officers' club, and outdoors. Military families who lived here appreciated the remote feeling and the magnificient views. Some people often drove to the valley below while others found all the community and recreation they needed right here at “home.” Children who took the Air Force bus to schools in the vallay often experienced a dramatic change of climate, sometimes leaving a snow covered mountain and arriving at a warm schoolyard below. This rich, thriving community forever shaped people's lives, as heard in the unique stories told by those who lived here.

Almaden Air Force Station swimming pool on the summit of Mt. Umunhum (displayed at kiosk near summit parking lot)  

Remnants of the swimming pool are still visible on Mt. Umunhum. 

Now an open space preserve 

The preserve around Mt. Um is named for the Sierra Azul: Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve. Sierra Azul means “Blue Mountains”. This is the name the Spanish-speaking colonist gave to the southern range of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Sierra Azul with Mt. Um and “sugar cube”

The preserve protects more than 19,000 acres of wilderness and features 26 miles of multiuse trails for hikng, dog walking, biking and horseback riding. It is prime mountain lion habitat and also proveds homes for bobcats, coyotes, deer and many other animal species [3].

Mount Umunhum wildlife

The “Welcome to Mount Umunhum” panel summarizes Mt. Um's plant and animal life:

Visitors will discover that a bounty of wildlife lives among the many plant communities and habitat types here. The chaparral zones on the mountain are characterized by dense, impenetrable scrub and dominated by chamise, big berry manzanita, birchleaf mountain mahagony, and poison oak. Chaparral is usually found on dry, southern-facing slopes that endure long periods of daily heat from the sun. Gray pines and knobcone pines offer limited shade beneath their sperse canopies to may plants including golden fleece, venus thistle, and foothill penstemon.

While chaparral occurs mainly on south-facing slopes, cooler and moister north-facing slopes are typically covered by mixed evergreen forest composed of bay laurel, coast and canyon live oaks, madrone, and big leaf maples. Their shade attracts California nutmeg (a coniferous evergreen tree), western heart's ease (a violet), elk clover (not actually a clover, but a herbaceous plant), ground rose (a coastal shrub with prickly stems), and many smaller plants.  

The majority of animals living on Mt. Um belong to invertebrates, birds and small-to mid-sized mammals. The bird life is abundant:

Anna's hummingbird is present year-round, but seasonal hummingbird visitors include Allen's, rufous, calliope, and black-chinned, which can be seen in the spring. California quail, California trasher, spotted towhee, fox sparrow, wrentit, and blue-gray gnatcatcher forage around the chaparall for their meals. California scrub jay, Steller's jay, northern flicker, dark-eyed junco, varied and hermit thrush, band-tailed pigeon, western screech owl, and Cooper's hawk fly through the mixed evergreen forest. Look up to spot golden eagle, hawks, and common raven soaring high above the summit.

A sacred site: reaching out for balance and harmony

Mount Umunhum holds great spiritual value for local tribal bands such as the Amah Mutsun and Muwekma. This mountain is where visions are sought and communion with the spiritual world is made. It is also where relationships with ancestors and future descendants are their strongest, where Hummingbird serves to remind those who see the mountain of the old teaching. It also serves as a place of ceremony and prayer even today. The Amah Mutsun hold ceremonies here because it is close to their Creator, because of its resonance to the spiritual self, and because it is where the children of their ancestors continue to reach out for balance and harmony. 

Getting there

Here is a link to a map showing the Mount Umunhum Area with roads, trails, utilities and sites of interest;

https://www.openspace.org/sites/default/files/Um_Trail_map_0.pdf .

Take Mt. Umunhum Road to drive up to the summit or park you car at the Bold Mountain Parking Area and use Mt. Umunhum Trail to approach the summit. 

The following map puts Mt. Um and the Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve into context with other locations in the Santa Cruz Mountains: 

Map with Santa Cruz Mountains including Sierra Azul area and “You are here” pointer locating Mount Umunhum

References and further reading

[1] Mount Umunhum: Exploring San Jose's Historic Cube. California Through My Lense by Josh. URL: https://californiathroughmylens.com/mount-umunhum/ (accessed January 18, 2026).

[2] Opening Mount Umunhum. Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve | Opening 2017. Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. URL: https://www.openspace.org/sites/default/files/OpeningMountUmunhum.pdf (accessed January 19, 2026).

[3] Sierra Azul Preserve. Midpeninsula Regional Open Space. URL: https://www.openspace.org/preserves/sierra-azul (accessed January 19, 2026).

View of the San Jose area

Año Nuevo Point Trail connecting the Marine Education Center with elephant seal viewing decks

Elephant seal colony at Año Nuevo, California (November 2, 2025)

The three-quarter-mile-long Año Nuevo Point Trail connects the Marine Education Center in Año Nuevo State Park with the Staging Area, where, depending on season and permit, you may enter the Año Nuevo Coast Natural Preserve.   

Año Nuevo Point (Punta del Año Nuevo in Spanish) is a rocky headland jutting into the Pacific Ocean. It is at the key location of a coastal area that includes North Point, South Point and Año Nuevo Island. The island and the coves and beaches between South Point and North Point are elephant seal territory.

Año Nuevo Island, home to birds, pinnipeds, and an abandoned lighthouse station

Like most promontories along the California, this is an amazing area for bird and whale watching. But most visitors come here for the single most compelling attraction: the large colony of northern elephant seals or northen sea elephant (Mirounga angustirostris). They are named for the male's signature feature, the elongated, pendulous nose (proboscis).

Along the way

The first half mile of the trail takes you from the education center (visitor center) to coastal freshwater wetland including a pond. Here, a short side trail invites you for a sidetrip to Cove Beach. Brown pelicans can be seen on the beach, flying across Año Nuevo Bay, resting along the cliffs and splashing around in the pond and cleaning their feathers. The pond also attracts egrets, mallards, coots, as well as rare visitors like the Yellow-crowned Night Heron.  

Cove Beach: a sand beach alongside the rugged coastline at Año Nuevo Bay

Continuing uphill on Año Nuevo Point Trail you will get to a point with an interpretive board, featuring the waterbirds mentioned above. Under the title A Symphony of Motion and Song, you will read: 

This pond attracts birds of all kinds with food, water, and shelter. Each bird has its own song. If you linger and watch quietly, the pond will come alive with bird activity and sounds.

Actually, when I walked by in November of this year, I heard the songs as well as the diving and splashing sounds early on, even before reaching the Cove Beach trail junction. 

When arriving at the Staging Area, a displayed blue whale bone caught my interest. A panel provides details:

This is the occipital bone of a blue whale. It forms the back of the skull, protecting the brain and connecting the skull to the spine. All mammals have one.

We—like all mammals—have one at the back of our head protecting our brains. Of course, it does not have the impressive size of a blue-whale occipital bone. But so doesn't our brain!

Occipital bone of a blue whale

Beyond the Staging Area, you are in restricted-access land. Sand dune trails and board walks will guide you around and towards clifftop or dunetop observation decks. Helpful and knowledgeable nature preserve staff is usually not far away to answer questions you come up with. 

Sand dune trail towards Bight Beach, North Point and South Point

From a likely crowded deck of pinniped enthusiasts you may watch a crowded beach of elephant seal—some resting, others moving, playing, or fighting. These are two crowds that want to be respected and are not made for intermingling. Remember that marine mammals are protected by federal law. But you are not (when in seal world): in the case you are coming across an elephant seal at a public beach outside the preserve, you want to keep your distance. Elephant seals have large teeth and can move around faster than you may think. Like with other mammals, males—in particular—can turn aggressive any time, and do so especially during breeding season.  

Young sea elephants seen from a deck near North Point

Map

Map with Año Nuevo Point Trail and Año Nuevo Island

References and suggested reading

[1] Año Nuevo Point Trail. Peninsula Open Space Trust 2025. URL: https://openspacetrust.org/hike/ano-nuevo-point-trail/.

[2] Año Nuevo State Park. California State Parks. URL: https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=523.

[3] Año Nuevo State Park. Visit Half Moon Bay. URL: https://www.visithalfmoonbay.org/places/ano-nuevo-state-park/.

Año Nuevo Marine Education Center

The former dairy barn of Cypress Dairy Ranch, now housing the Marine Education Center 

The marine education center in the Año Nuevo State Park is an exhibition barn with focus on the unique elephant seal breeding grounds within the park. The education center is your gateway to nearby beaches, where elephant seals are present pretty much year round.  Access to viewing platforms involves a scenic hike over sand and varied terrain—three to four miles northwest from the education center. Elephant seal viewing is available by guided walks or with a viewing permit. On my last visit I was approached by friendly and knowledgeable park staff offering their binoculars to spot seals and giving updates of elephant seal life: northern elephant seal numbers have rebound from near extinction. Numbers have grown dramatically along the U.S. Pacific Coast thanks to strong conservation efforts. 

The barn with the marine education center also serves as the main visitor center. It includes natural history exhibits, a bookstore and a theater. You can find picnic tables nearby.    

Adult elephant seal skulls: male (left) and female (right)

A male and a female elephant seal skull are displayed in the barn; supplemented by an explaining placard: 

Note the size difference between the adult male and female skulls. Adult males weigh up to 2 ½ tons  and average fifteen feet long. Females weigh half that amount and average eleven feet in length. At birth, pups weigh about 75 pounds and are already more than four feet long. 

In the old days, the exhibition barn was a dairy barn. The historic buildings, including the barn and the creamery, are—according to an interpretive panel—“Echoes of a Dairy Ranch”:

The historic buildings you see today were once part of the Cypress Dairy built by Edwin and Effie Dickerman in 1881 for making butter and cream. Materials for construction were salvaged from a nearby abandoned wharf.

Effie was a member of the prominent Steele family that had settled along the Año Nuevo coast in 1862 from Ohio. During the late 1800's her family helped pioneer the dairy industry in California.

In the 1930s the family switched to crop farming and, like many coastal farms, grew artichokes and Brussel sprouts, crops that are still popular today. The ranch was eventually purchased by the State of California in 1968 and added to Año Nuevo State Park.

The creamery of the historic Dickerman Ranch at the former Cypress Dairy

In addition to the dairy barn and the creamy, Cypress Dairy Ranch features Dickerman's home, a storage barn, a horse barn, a blacksmith shop, a water tower, an orchard and New Years Creek Bridge.

Getting there

The former Cypress Dairy Ranch with the dairy barn—now called Marine Education Center—is located just south of the visitor parking lot in Año Nuevo State Park. The park entrance is located on the west side of Highway 1, approximately 55 miles south of San Francisco and a short drive south from the Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park. 

Further reading

[1]  Marine Education Center. California State Parks. URL: https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=27612 .

[2] Año Nuevo State Park. Coastside State Parks Association. URL: https://www.coastsidestateparks.org/ano_nuevo.

Mel's Lane Trail: enjoy sweeping vistas of a rocky cove

The rockscape of Whaler's Cove 

Mel's Lane Trail is a scenic, half-mile out-and-back path along the California coastline near the Pigeon Point lighthouse. Stroll along and stop anywhere to take in views of  Whaler's Cove with Prisoner Rock.

Mel's Lane Trail, named in honor of Melvin B. Lane

The trail is named in honor of lifelong conservationist Melvin B. Lane (1922-2007).  He was a publisher and defender of California Coast [1,2]. As a visionary, Lane saw—more than 60 years ago—the importance of conserving natural resources along the California coast for future generations.

Prisoner Rock

The cliffside trail offers spectacular spots to overview Whaler's Cove wave choreography and to watch for harbor seals, otters, and seabirds. 

Pigeon Point Light Station

References and further reading

[1] Mel's Lane Trail at Pigeon Point. URL: https://openspacetrust.org/hike/mels-lane/.

[2] Naomi Schwartz, with Linda Krop. Melvin B. Lane 1922-2007. Santa Barbara Independent, Aug. 30, 2007. URL: https://www.independent.com/2007/08/30/melvin-b-lane-1922-2007/.

TRT: Hiking or biking from Brockway Summit to Watson Lake

Tahoe Rim Trail at Watson Lake's south shore

Watson Lake is a marshy lake in the Sierra Nevada north of Lake Tahoe. It is surrounded by trees and fringed with wildflowers in spring and early summer. The Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT) follows around the lake for about a quarter of its perimeter. The distance to Watson Lake from the Brockway Summit trailhead is given between six and seven miles, depending on which lakeside point you define as your destination. The campground (Elevation: 7,759 feet or 2,365 meter) is located at the west side of the lake [1].

Watson Lake is the only lake between Brockway Summit and Tahoe City. Be sure to filter its water, in case you want to use it for drinking or food preparation.

A collapsed tree sculptured itself into a multi-split arch over the Tahoe Rim Trail

On your way to Watson Lake you will pass here and there thick forest of white fir and Jeffrey pine. Other trail sections go through more open forest taking you through manzanita, chinquapin and wildflower meadows. Occasionally, you may glimpse some blue spots of Lake Tahoe. But to get an unobstructed view of Carnelian Bay and beyond, you want to turn left—after 4.5 miles from the Brockway Summit trailhead—onto a spur trail leading to large rock assembly.  

View of the northeast corner of Lake Tahoe, including Carnelian Bay, from rocks off the TRT

Whiles continuing towards Watson Lake on my early-fall hike this year, I enjoyed beautiful wildflowers and was—like every year around this time—spooked by the rustling sound created by the dry, crinkly leaves mule ear flowers. 

Dry mule ear leaves rustling in the wind

The Tahoe forest ecosystem includes rotting wood and you will find deadwood alongside the trail: usually an indicator of a healthy forest in which decay brings back new life.  

Deadwood teeming with life

Brockway to Tahoe City and Brockway to Tahoe Meadows Trailhead

TRT post at Highway 267 site

The TRT intersects Highway 267 (connecting Northeast Lake Tahoe and Truckee) 2.75 miles north of Kings Beach, just 0.5 mile before the Brockway Summit.. Trailhead parking spots are located at the road pullout on the southside of the road. The TRT starts at the downhill edge of the parking section. After a few steps along the trail, you will find a TRT kiosk with a map on the right side of the trail.    

Nearby trails and points of interest

• Martis Peak Fire Lookout
• Martis Creek Trail
• Martis Creek Loop: in-between and beyond
• A loop round Porcupine Hill
• Tompkins Memorial Trail round Northstar

Further reading 

[1] Watson Lake Campground URL: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/laketahoebasin/recreation/watson-lake-campground.

[2] Brockway Summit to Watson Lake.URL: https://www.tahoeactivities.com/watson-lake-trail/.

Lamoille Canyon beaver dam at Changing Canyon Trail

Beaver dam in Lamoille Canyon 

Beavers (genus: Castor) are large, semiaquatic rodents. They build dams by using tree branches, vegetation, rocks and mud. To source suitable building material, they even chew down trees. A beaver dam restricts water flow, resulting in the formation of a pond. Recognizing their activities in constructing wetland habitats effecting many other organisms in a local ecosystem, beavers are considered a key species.  

An impressive beaver building site is located in Lamoille Canyon in Nevada's Ruby Mountains. You can easily walk to this site on the Changing Canyon Trail—a nature loop trail next to Lamoille Canyon Road (NF-660).  A Nature Trail Guide available at the trailhead highlights the significance of beaver dams & ponds in non-anthropogenic water management:

Beavers dams keep more water on the land and mitigate the effects of droughts in dry environments. Beaver ponds often provide some of the las standing water in periods of summer drought and some of the only unfrozen water in midwinter.

During the warm months yellow monkeyflower grows on the bank of this pond. Take a walk in the adjacent meadow and you will find many kinds of tiny flowering plants growing amongst the grasses.

Downcanyon view from the beaver pond at Changing Canyon Trail

The trail map indicates the site of the spring. The beavers built dams to reduce the flow of water from this spring rather than trying to build a dam across Lamoille Creek. Past the dam, the water flows into Lamoille Creek—the main creek of the canyon with typically higher flow of water during spring and a much higher chance to blow out built dams..     

Changing Canyon Trail Map

Map with Changing Canyon Trail and beaver dam site

This map describes the beaver beaver dam site as “abandoned beaver dam and lodge”. I am not sure about the current site status. Has the beaver community left for good or is their a cycle of  abandoning and reactivating?