Completed: February 25, 2023 | Elevation: 1,898 ‘ | Trail: Montara Mountain North Peak Loop Trail (w/ modifications) | Distance: 6.9 miles
The trail up Montara Mountain starting from the small lot next to the North Peak Access Road is another hike that we’ve done several times, usually when we’re training for something, or just in search of a good cardio workout with views. However, for the number of times we’ve done the hike, neither of us could recall if we’d actually gone all the way to the very top. This is how we found ourselves on Saturday morning, motoring our way through this hike in about 2.5 hours before we had to pick up Chris’ daughter from the airport.
We followed the North Peak Access Road, past the junction with the Gray Whale Cove Trail and a trail leading to Old San Pedro Mountain Road, continuing straight through the gate. From here it was a few yards before we veered left onto a spur trail that ascended through the grasslands, past a small homestead, before connecting with Old San Pedro Mountain Road.
We walked along the dusty road until we reached a point where we could continue following the gradual but longer route via the road, or take a shorter but steeper biking path that followed a ridge line. We opted for short and steep (which we had done before) and eventually came out on the North Peak Access Road. As we hiked up the trail, we came across patches of snow.
About 1.5 hours after we started the hike, we reached the North Peak, whose summit is unfortunately, also fenced off and home to expensive equipment, similar to Bernal Heights, but what I didn’t realize is that this was only as of 2019 and prior to that it was possible to touch the summit.
We stopped for a break to take pictures and eat an apple, before backtracking to go up another nearby peak that also has some kind of telecommunications equipment on top of it, but it’s not fenced so one can still get some great views.
Mission accomplished, we retraced our steps down the mountain on North Peak Access Road. This time we stayed on it until we joined Old San Pedro Mountain Road (passing the shortcut we had taken coming up). It wasn’t long before we reached the turn off for Gray Whale Cove Trail on the right.
We were only on Gray Whale Cove Trail for a few hundred feet before we found a connector trail on the left.
It was a short cut to Old San Pedro Mountain Road, crossed the road and became the original meadow trail that we had walked up when we passed the gate near the equestrian center.
Back on North Peak Access Road we beelined it for the car, astonished at how quickly we had done it, with plenty of time to spare.
Follow our progress bagging the Bay Area’s Nifty Ninety here.
Coda
While it’s possible to stay on the two main roads turned trails—Old San Pedro Mountain Road and North Peak Access Road—there are many spur and connector trails, many of them unsigned, that criss-cross between the two of them. We usually park at McNee Ranch because it’s free but the trailhead parking only accommodates 5-6 cars.