San Mateo Hiking Section

New Hikers Welcome! The San Mateo Hiking Section offers moderate hikes two times a week. For our hike schedule, see the Chapter calendar for all Sierra Club Calendar events.

Printed six-month schedules are available on hike days from the hike leader and from Hike Leader Coordinator Brian Swing 408-202-7762 at a cost of $3.

You can preview our upcoming hikes for the current six months in the link below showing the calendar.

You can view the pdf here:

San Mateo Hiking Section Six Month Calendar

Hikes start at 10:00 AM, unless otherwise specified. Bring water and lunch, poles if you use them.

Hope to see you out there!

Where We Hike

The San Mateo Hiking Group primarily hikes on trails located up and down the San Francisco Peninsula. We also hike from time to time in the North Bay, South Bay, and coastal areas. Our favorites list includes many of the Mid Peninsula open spaces, and county and state parks. You may find us at Russian Ridge, El Corte de Madera, Skyline Ridge, Windy Hill, Edgewood, Purisima, Stevens Creek, Huddart, Coal Mine Ridge, Sam McDonald, Butano, Big Basin, Pescadero, Monte Bello, Henry Cowell, Portola, Pulgas, Phleger, Wunderlich, and many more. We often venture out farther afield to Mt Tamalpais, Sierra Azul, Mt. Umunhum, the East Bay, and to many coastal areas as well.

We like the redwoods all year round, but the ridges are especially wonderful in the springtime for the wildflowers. Many of our hikes explore the beaches and coastal preserves as well as city hikes in San Francisco.

Our Wednesday hikes are longer and more strenuous (7-9 miles) than our Thursday hikes (5-6 miles). Our group is usually 12-20 people and most of us have been hiking with the group for many years.

We welcome new hikers and leaders too!

Here are views of some of our favorite places: