Description:
Italian for “Beautiful Mountain”, Monte Bello Open Space Preserve is a place of rolling grasslands, dense creekside forests, and spectacular vistas. The preserve encompasses the upper Stevens Creek watershed from Monte Bello Ridge to Skyline Ridge.  The 3,436-acre preserve is one of the District's richest in wildlife and ecosystem diversity.

Route:
We will start at the Monte Bello Parking Lot on Page Mill Rd. (details below) and hike the Canyon/Bella Vista/Old Ranch Trails to the top of Black Mountain where we will take a lunch break.  Then we’ll return via the Indian Creek/Skid Road/Stevens Creek Nature trails to the parking lot.  A trail map is available at: https://openspace.org/sites/default/files/map_MB.pdf.  The parking lot is about at the horizontal center of the map a couple of inches from the top.

Other notes:  Dogs are not permitted on these trails.  There are portable outhouses at the start of our hike. 

Warning: This is a moderately strenuous hike.  Please be sure that you are comfortable with this level of effort before joining us.

What to Bring:
Start your day with a hearty breakfast.  Bring water (at least 2 liters per person), a hat, and some snacks. Sunblock and sunglasses are advisable.

Where we will meet:
We will meet at the main entrance to the preserve in the parking lot on Page Mill Road, 7 miles west of Highway 280 and 1.5 miles east of Skyline Boulevard.  For detailed directions, use the link at:  https://openspace.org/preserves/monte-bello#tabs-preserve_tabs-middle-3.  Additional parking is available at the Los Trancos Open Space Preserve parking area, located directly across Page Mill Road.

Carpooling:
Carpooling is always a nice idea. If people want to get into a carpool, we've set up an unmoderated discussion group you can use to set up carpools. To join it, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mitcnchikers_carpooling and then send a message to mitcnchikers_carpooling@groups.yahoo.com, or post from the web interface at the above address.  This requires you to get a free yahoo account; sorry about this, but in our experience, they've been harmless and respect your spam preferences.  Unfortunately (cynics cackle here), the old email signup interface seems to have stopped working.  In any case, in the message, be sure to include where you're coming from, contact information and how many of you there are.

Rain/Weather policy:
If there's any ambiguity about the weather on the day of the hike, check the forecast on the morning of the hike.

If it's raining significantly, the hike is cancelled.  If the weather is ambiguous, we will send out an email to the registered participants on the morning of the hike.

Disclaimers:
Joining any hike is entirely voluntary and participants assume any and all risks associated with the activities.  By registering or attending this event, participants agree to the conditions posted HERE