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Burlingame Caltrain Station – Pulgas Water Temple loop from Broadway

Burlingame Caltrain Station – Pulgas Water Temple loop from Broadway

Moderate

3.3

(1)

riders

Burlingame Caltrain Station – Pulgas Water Temple loop from Broadway

01:38

34.6km

340m

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: July 10, 2026

Waypoints

Start point

Train Station

Get Directions

1.76 km

Burlingame Caltrain Station

Highlight • Monument

Historic Station, still in use by CalTrain, at the east end of Burlingame Avenue in the center of town

Tip by

7.63 km

Last Stagecoach Hold-up Memorial

Highlight • Monument

This semi-humorous memorial for the Last Stagecoach Hold-up in San Mateo County in 1905 is hidden in the San Matteo Creek canyon along the very bike-friendly Crystal Springs Road.

Tip by

17.1 km

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

Tip by

17.3 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

24.6 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

Tip by

34.6 km

End point

Train Station

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

23.4 km

5.91 km

3.31 km

1.72 km

215 m

< 100 m

Surfaces

28.1 km

6.48 km

< 100 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Highest point (160 m)

Lowest point (0 m)

Weather

Today

Sunday 12 July

22°C

14°C

12 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 23.0 km/h

to get more detailed weather forecasts along your route

Comments

December 19, 2024,Sawyer Trail Inspection

I hadn't ridden this trail all year, since they closed it to through-traffic last January. From the south gate, you can go north 4.3 miles before having to turn around. You can't see any work in this section--that's happening further north. Signs all still say it will reopen Dec. 31. But with all the rains lately, and the holidays here, …

October 29, 2024,It's hip to be spare

The climbing really bothered my hips so I kept it short. Still worked out the lungs, heart and legs, and cleared the cobwebs from my head. If you rotate that route about 120 degrees, it looks a bit like Oklahoma with an extra-phallic panhandle.

August 30, 2024,Cañada Gets a New Coat

...from 92 down almost to Jefferson. Looks like they're stopping there for now. Chip and seal style. Kind of disappointing since it's actually a bit rougher than before :( Don't fear the loose gravel, there really isn't any. They did a good job sweeping. I even rode around a sweeper doing its thing today. Plus, I felt like $#!+ today

December 1, 2024,December Nice

No photos, but 65⁰F/18⁰C looks good in December, for sure.

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Our route recommendations are based on thousands of hikes, rides, and runs completed by other people on komoot.

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Burlingame Caltrain Station – Pulgas Water Temple loop from Broadway

Burlingame Caltrain Station

Last Stagecoach Hold-up Memorial

Pulgas Water Temple

View of Crystal Springs Reservoir from Cañada Road

Lower Crystal Springs Reservoir

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