A REFUGE FOR NATURE IN OUR OWN BACK YARD
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s (SFPUC) Peninsula Watershed is home to some of the Bay Area’s most intact native habitats. Located in San Mateo County 13 miles south of San Francisco, the Peninsula Watershed consists of 23,000 acres of forested hills, coastal scrub, and grasslands that harbor over 165 species of birds, 800 species of plants and trees, 50 species of mammals, and 30 species of reptiles and amphibians. In fact, the SFPUC Peninsula Watershed contains the highest concentration of rare, threatened, and endangered species in the nine-county Bay Area and is a State Fish and Game Refuge.

IT’S ABOUT THE WATER
The reason that a pristine native habitat exists in our own backyard is because this watershed also contains three drinking water reservoirs that are protected by the SFPUC. The water in Crystal Springs, Pilarcitos, and San Andreas reservoirs comes from both local rainfall and from snowcapped peaks in Yosemite National Park - and eventually makes its way to faucets in San Francisco and the Peninsula.  

Providing a reliable supply of high-quality water is the SFPUC’s top priority. We are seriously committed to protecting our watershed lands and the natural habitats they harbor. By carefully regulating human activity in our watersheds, we minimize the risk of fire, erosion, and pollution that can negatively impact water quality. We are extremely proud of the quality of our water, and we appreciate the assistance of all Bay Area residents in helping us keep our watersheds healthy.

RECREATION THAT RESPECTS NATURE
We recognize the watershed’s potential as an educational tool and refuge from urban development. We believe that sound environmental stewardship can coexist with limited recreational uses on our watershed lands. This portion of the Fifield-Cahill Ridge Trail opened to the general public in the summer of 2003. Visitors can now make reservations for a guided tour of the Fifield-Cahill Ridge Trail that passes through the San Francisco Peninsula Watershed west of Lower Crystal Springs and San Andreas Reservoirs.

This trail segment is the SFPUC-managed component of the Bay Area Ridge Trail. The entire 400-mile Bay Area Ridge Trail, when completed, will circle the entire Bay along the ridgelines, connecting parks, open spaces, and watershed lands to nearby communities.

The newly opened 10-mile trail starts at Skyline Quarry at Highway 92 and extends northward to the watershed boundary at the Portola Ridge gate. There it connects with the GGNRA’s (Golden Gate National Recreation Area) trail system and the Sweeney Ridge section of the Bay Area Ridge Trail, which is open to the public. Trail users can then access the Sneath Lane Gate Trailhead by following the Sweeney Ridge Trail to Army Road, which leads to the trailhead approximately 3.7 miles north of the Portola Ridge gate.

Local nature lovers can enjoy the rare opportunity to hike, bike, or ride their horses through stands of pristine old growth Douglas Fir, evergreen hardwood woodlands and fragrant coastal scrub while enjoying expansive vistas of our watershed lands, reservoirs, the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay. Trained volunteer trail leaders will head excursions three days a week. We will carefully monitor trail use by the public to ensure that there are no significant impacts to the fragile ecosystem.