Heritage Grove

The smallest redwood park

Length 0.5 miles · Climbing 80 feet

California > San Francisco Bay Area > Portola and Pescadero parks

Lower Grove

This miniscule redwood grove contains at most a few dozen big trees, but is nonetheless one of the nicest redwood groves in the Bay Area. There's a lush carpet of sorrel and ferns, trunks turned copper-colored by lichen, a burbling stream - all the kinds of scenery found in the best redwood groves, just not very much of it. The grove is much more lush han the nearby redwood groves of Big Basin, Portola, or Henry Cowell Redwoods. It's located on Alpine Road, which is a narrow, winding, and scenic road that runs from Palo Alto to the ocean and is a favorite of motorcyclists.

There are, unfortunately, signs of logging in the grove; at least five of the biggest trees have been cut. Furthermore, Alpine Road is only a few yards away, across the creek and up an embankment.

Hike description

From the parking area, a short trail passes through the "lower grove". An even shorter trail branches off to the "upper grove", which is not marked and is easily missed; look for the first spot where the trail levels out. The upper grove is a group of four large trees to your right along with some smaller trees. If you come to an intersection with a sign pointing the way to "Hiker's Hut", you've gone too far (from this sign, the two trails continue on to Sam McDonald Park). A stroll through both the upper and lower groves covers about four-tenths of a mile.

Lower Grove