RoutesRoad cycling routesUnited StatesCaliforniaSan Mateo CountySan Mateo
Portola Valley – Junipero Serra Boulevard loop from San Mateo
RoutesRoad cycling routesUnited StatesCaliforniaSan Mateo CountySan Mateo
Portola Valley – Junipero Serra Boulevard loop from San Mateo
Moderate
3.1
(11)
53
riders
Portola Valley – Junipero Serra Boulevard loop from San Mateo
03:37
83.1km
790m
Road cycling
Moderate road ride. Good fitness required. Mostly well-paved surfaces and easy to ride. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.
Last updated: February 27, 2026
Waypoints
A
Start point
Train Station
Get Directions
1
6.75 km
Lower Crystal Springs Reservoir
Highlight • Lake
The 15-mile Crystal Springs Regional Trail is one of the best mostly paved bike trails with few cars in the Bay Area. It spans from San Bruno to Woodside and is routed along three gorgeous lakes and connector links amid riparian woodlands. On Sundays, you can combine the San Andreas and Sawyer Camp segments to south of Highway 92 to Cañada Road, which is closed to cars for Bicycle Sundays (See komoot.com/tour/11413421)
Speed limit: 15 mph, difficult for high-end road bikes to stay below, so bring a bell: some hikers stand and talk in the center of the trail ;-)
San Andreas segment: From Skyline Boulevard south of San Bruno Avenue the trail drops to the head of San Andreas Lake, with pretty views across to the west of the wilderness slope of Montara Mountain. It rides along the lake 2 miles to an access point near Larkspur and 0.6 miles to another (at Hillcrest) where it connects to the Sawyer Camp segment.
Sawyer Camp segment: This is a gorgeous, easy bike ride, where you drop 400 feet over the span of 6 miles to Crystal Springs Dam. The route descends into riparian woodlands for 2.5 miles to Jepson Laurel picnic grounds, then runs along Crystal Springs Reservoir for 5.2 miles. You can continue another 1.7 miles to Cañada Road for Bicycle Sunday (no cars).
Cañada Road/Crystal Springs segment: South along Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir for 2.1 miles to the Pulgas Water Temple. It continues another 2.1 miles past Filoli Botanical Center and Phleger Estate to Edgewood Road
sfgate.com/outdoors/sundaydrive/article/Crystal-Springs-Trail-links-lakes-woodlands-4723374.php
parks.smcgov.org/crystal-springs-regional-trail
Speed limit: 15 mph, difficult for high-end road bikes to stay below, so bring a bell: some hikers stand and talk in the center of the trail ;-)
San Andreas segment: From Skyline Boulevard south of San Bruno Avenue the trail drops to the head of San Andreas Lake, with pretty views across to the west of the wilderness slope of Montara Mountain. It rides along the lake 2 miles to an access point near Larkspur and 0.6 miles to another (at Hillcrest) where it connects to the Sawyer Camp segment.
Sawyer Camp segment: This is a gorgeous, easy bike ride, where you drop 400 feet over the span of 6 miles to Crystal Springs Dam. The route descends into riparian woodlands for 2.5 miles to Jepson Laurel picnic grounds, then runs along Crystal Springs Reservoir for 5.2 miles. You can continue another 1.7 miles to Cañada Road for Bicycle Sunday (no cars).
Cañada Road/Crystal Springs segment: South along Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir for 2.1 miles to the Pulgas Water Temple. It continues another 2.1 miles past Filoli Botanical Center and Phleger Estate to Edgewood Road
sfgate.com/outdoors/sundaydrive/article/Crystal-Springs-Trail-links-lakes-woodlands-4723374.php
parks.smcgov.org/crystal-springs-regional-trail
Tip by
2
10.5 km
View of Crystal Springs Reservoir from Cañada Road
Highlight (Segment) • Viewpoint
Bike Sunday - no motorized vehicles on Sundays, we've got the whole road for ourselves.
Tip by
3
26.6 km
Portola Valley
Highlight (Segment) • Settlement
The ride takes you through the (very) well-to-do town of Portola Valley, which usually ranks as one of the top 10 in the US in terms of average household income. You may have heard that Portola Valley has a higher population of horses than of people. While that seems to have been true only in much earlier years, this is still a town with a very high rate of horse ownership and, just like in the neighboring Woodside, you shouldn't be surprised if you encounter residents heading to the corner store on horseback.
Tip by
4
33.6 km
Dwight Crowder Path
Highlight (Segment) • Cycleway
This mostly paved bike trail alongside Alpine Road is great for bike commuting — just don't run over any slower trail users! The trail runs all the way from Portola Valley to Stanford, offering some nice shade along the way. The brief moments of unpaved trail are near the Portola Valley end.
Tip by
5
41.5 km
Junipero Serra Boulevard
Highlight (Segment) • Cycleway
Junipero Serra Boulevard has a generous, paved bike lane in both directions for the entire length of the ride.
Car traffic is everpresent on this route, and it can get particularly busy during commute hours on weekdays, though this shouldn't concern you much because (other than having to switch to the left-hand side of the right-turn lane at some intersections) you will be mostly independent of the traffic lanes in your own bike lane during this ride. Meanwhile, weekends with good weather will result in heavy bicycle traffic, in which case it would be worthwhile to pay extra attention to fast riders that might be approaching from behind, at least when you're stopping or resuming after a stop.
Car traffic is everpresent on this route, and it can get particularly busy during commute hours on weekdays, though this shouldn't concern you much because (other than having to switch to the left-hand side of the right-turn lane at some intersections) you will be mostly independent of the traffic lanes in your own bike lane during this ride. Meanwhile, weekends with good weather will result in heavy bicycle traffic, in which case it would be worthwhile to pay extra attention to fast riders that might be approaching from behind, at least when you're stopping or resuming after a stop.
Tip by
6
69.0 km
Pulgas Water Temple
Highlight • Monument
San Francisco built Pulgas Water Temple as a monument to the engineering marvel that brought Hetch Hetchy water more than 160 miles across California from Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the Bay Area. The Hetch Hetchy Project took 24 years to build through the Great Depression at a cost of $102 million.
On October 28, 1934, the roar of Hetch Hetchy mountain water greeted everyone gathered at Pulgas Water Temple to celebrate its arrival. With vivid memories of the fire that had raged after the Great Earthquake of 1906, the city rejoiced in its new secure, plentiful supply of high quality drinking water. The frieze above the columns expresses the city’s relief: “I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people.”
Pulgas Water Temple was designed in the Beaux Arts style by William Merchant, a San Francisco architect trained by Bernard Maybeck. Merchant’s design featured fluted columns and Corinthian capitals to reflect the architecture of ancient Greeks and Romans, whose engineering methods were used to build the new water system. Artist and master stone carver Albert Bernasconi brought Merchant’s drawings to life.
Pulgas Water Temple is located about one-half mile south of the Cañada Road trailhead.
Open free to bikers & pedestrians every day, car parking opens only M-F 9-4
sfwater.org/index.aspx?page=93
Biketrail with more highlights and annotated photos at komoot.com/tour/11413421
On October 28, 1934, the roar of Hetch Hetchy mountain water greeted everyone gathered at Pulgas Water Temple to celebrate its arrival. With vivid memories of the fire that had raged after the Great Earthquake of 1906, the city rejoiced in its new secure, plentiful supply of high quality drinking water. The frieze above the columns expresses the city’s relief: “I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people.”
Pulgas Water Temple was designed in the Beaux Arts style by William Merchant, a San Francisco architect trained by Bernard Maybeck. Merchant’s design featured fluted columns and Corinthian capitals to reflect the architecture of ancient Greeks and Romans, whose engineering methods were used to build the new water system. Artist and master stone carver Albert Bernasconi brought Merchant’s drawings to life.
Pulgas Water Temple is located about one-half mile south of the Cañada Road trailhead.
Open free to bikers & pedestrians every day, car parking opens only M-F 9-4
sfwater.org/index.aspx?page=93
Biketrail with more highlights and annotated photos at komoot.com/tour/11413421
Tip by
B
83.1 km
End point
Train Station
Way Types & Surfaces
Way Types
63.2 km
8.18 km
7.54 km
3.28 km
841 m
116 m
< 100 m
Surfaces
82.5 km
424 m
261 m
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Saturday 9 May
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11°C
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