Stile Ranch Wildflower Hike, Santa Teresa Park, 4/3/18 by Ronald Horii
One of the best wildflower trails in the Bay Area is the Stile Ranch Trail in Santa Teresa County Park:
https://www.mercurynews.com/2011/05/17/wanderlust-where-to-find-the-wildflowers-in-the-bay-area-this-spring/
The Friends of Santa Teresa Park led a group hike here on 3/25/18. We hiked the Fortini and Mine Trails, then returned on the Stile Ranch Trail. While we saw lots of wildflowers, they were not quite at their peak:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1753975377959310.1073742348.100000405933924&type=1&l=1f3a8de263
Now, the flowers are closer to their peak. While flowers vary by species in terms of when they bloom, the most conspicuous flower is the showy California poppy. It puts on a spectacular show, particularly on the switchbacks of the Stile Ranch Trail. I hiked the trail up to its high point and slightly beyond. The total trip was 1.5 miles. The altitude range was from 364 feet at the trailhead to 737 feet at the high point. Here are pictures of the wildflowers that I saw.

Here are more pictures of Santa Teresa Park:
http://www.stpfriends.org/#newpictures

Here's a map of Santa Teresa Park. The Stile Ranch entrance is at the lower left. https://www.sccgov.org/sites/parks/parkfinder/Documents/Santa-Teresa-map.pdf 
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