San Mateo County Birding Guide by Sequoia Audubon Society - Printed on April 3, 2026

Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve

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Description

Area Habitats
Grassland, Oak Woodland

The Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve consists of 1455 acres lying south and west of the intersection of Alpine Road and Skyline Drive. The parking lot entrance is on Alpine Road less than a hundred yards off of Skyline.

The preserve is primarily grassland habitat. Some say that the best wildflower display on Skyline Drive is found on this preserve. Ten and a half miles of trails begin at the parking lot. The Ridge Trail which parallels Skyline Boulevard, affords the best views and spring wildflowers; one key location along the Ridge Trail is Borel Hill, with an elevation of 2,572 feet, located about .75 miles from the parking area. The Mindego and Ancient Oaks Trails drop 700 feet in less than 2 miles to take you into oak woodland forest. The Hawk and Alder Spring Trails in the northwest portion of the preserve, give you an alternative to the Ridge Trail without much loss of altitude. There is another entry to Russian Ridge's portion of the Bay Area Ridge Trail along Rapley Ranch Road; see entry on Yerba Buena Nursery for more information on that general area.

Altitude and open sky are key features of this park, which, of all of the Skyline Open Space Preserves, has the best opportunity for raptor-watching and for grassland species. Unusual birds to look for here include Golden Eagle, Horned Lark, and Lawrence's Goldfinch. Other specialties include Vaux's Swift, Ash-throated Flycatcher and Lazuli Bunting in summer, and unusual sparrows in summer and fall. Any tick-tempting journeys off trail have the potential to reveal scads of Savannah Sparrows and Western Meadowlarks.

This is an excellent park for long walks with friends who desire great scenery more than birds. Because the habitat is open, you will have ample opportunities to identify most of what you see (and seduce your friend into sharing your passion), while your companions will be impressed by the panoramic views and the wildflowers. Coyote and deer (a.k.a. Mountain Lion bait) are seen on many early morning and non-weekend visits. For hard-core birders, this park should be combined with the contiguous Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve, which features two fresh-water lakes: Alpine and Horseshoe; see separate entry in this guide.

Look For These Birds

Year-round Residents
Gadwall, Mallard, California Quail, Wild Turkey, Pied-billed Grebe, Rock Pigeon, Band-tailed Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, White-throated Swift, Anna's Hummingbird, American Coot, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs (uncommon), Western Gull, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, White-tailed Kite, Northern Harrier, Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Barn Owl, Western Screech-Owl (uncommon), Great Horned Owl, Northern Pygmy-Owl, Burrowing Owl, Acorn Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Nuttall's Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, American Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Black Phoebe, Hutton's Vireo, Steller's Jay, California Scrub Jay, American Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Oak Titmouse, Bushtit, Wrentit, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Pygmy Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Pacific Wren, Bewick's Wren, European Starling, California Thrasher (uncommon), Northern Mockingbird, Western Bluebird, Varied Thrush, House Finch, Purple Finch, Red Crossbill, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, American Goldfinch, Dark-eyed Junco, Savannah Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, California Towhee, Spotted Towhee, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Brewer's Blackbird.

Summer Breeders
Common Poorwill, Vaux's Swift, Allen's Hummingbird, Olive-sided Flycatcher (migration), Western Wood-Pewee, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Cassin's Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Tree Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, Barn Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, House Wren, Swainson's Thrush, American Robin, Grasshopper Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow (rare), Bullock's Oriole, Orange-crowned Warbler, Nashville Warbler (uncommon, migration), MacGillivray's Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Hermit Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Western Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting.

Winter Visitors
American Wigeon, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Wilson's Snipe, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Red-breasted Sapsucker (uncommon), Merlin, Say's Phoebe, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Cedar Waxwing, American Pipit, Fox Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Western Meadowlark, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Townsend's Warbler.

Rarities Seen Here

In this guide, "rarities" are defined as those species given an County Abundance Code of 4, 5, or 6.

Golden Eagle (Mindego Hill area has been a known eagle nesting site since at least the 1930s), Black Swift (migration, 2012, 2018), Rufous Hummingbird, Common Poorwill (2015), Western Kingbird (2012, 2016), Horned Lark (2018), White-throated Sparrow (2020), Greater White-fronted Goose, Rough-legged Hawk, Lewis's Woodpecker, Purple Martin (2021, 2022), Townsend's Solitaire, Lark Sparrow, Bell's Sparrow (2018), Vesper Sparrow (2018), White-throated Sparrow (2020), Indigo Bunting, Evening Grosbeak (2011, near Mindego Hill area), Lawrence's Goldfinch (1976, 1977, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2018, 2020, 2021)

Directions

Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve is located along Skyline Boulevard, near the intersection of SR35 with Page Mill Road and Alpine Road. The most direct route to the parking lot is to take Page Mill Road west from I-280. At the stop sign, about eight windy miles west, cross Skyline Boulevard; the parking lot is well-marked, on your right in a few hundred feet. You can get to Skyline Boulevard in a number of ways: SR 84, SR9 (from Santa Cruz or Saratoga), or drive the length of SR 35 from SR 92. You can also drive the length of Alpine Road from Pescadero Road if coming from the coast.

Fees

There are no fees connected with Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve.

Hours

Daylight hours; the preserve parking lot is locked thirty minutes after sunset.

Hazards

The usual four are here - ticks, poison oak, rattlesnakes and the rare Mountain Lion. On weekends, the noise level created by motorcycles along SR35 (Skyline Boulevard) can interfere with birding by ear on the Bay Area Ridge Trail, that parallels the highway. This preserve is particularly attractive to mountain bicyclists and you should keep this in mind as most of the trails are quite narrow.

Traffic on the weekend can be quite daunting along Skyline and its tributary roads. Motorcycles and mountain bicyclists are around every corner. If you are driving a car, please be very cautious. If you are biking, motorized or acoustic, please be wary and watchful. On a scouting day for this guide, a beautiful spring weekend, the editor was sobered by two head-on collisions in the immediate vicinity of this park involving motorcycles.

Facilities

There is a restroom at the main parking lot. Refreshments can be found at the intersection of SR 35 (Skyline Boulevard) and Highway 84, and in the town of Woodside, east on SR 84.

Contact

The Midpeninsula Region Open Space District can be contacted at 650-691-1200 during regular business hours. The 24-hour dispatch number for an MROSD ranger is 650-968-4411.

Avian Research Status

Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve has two hotspots in eBird. The primary location - Russian Ridge OSP - includes 138 species and has filled all forty-eight time quadrants! Excellent coverage, birders! The subsidiary location deals with the southwest corner, and is named Russian Ridge OSP--Mindego Hill Trail - has 106 species representing coverage in thirty of forty-eight time quadrants. eBird prefers detailed intra-park lists of the type represented by this second hotspot, so please consider using it when in that vicinity. Historical Note: When this entry was first uploaded, only nine of forty-eight calendar quadrants in eBird had data! Great job documenting the avian life at this park and recording your sightings at eBird.

The iNaturalist 'place' reference for Russian Ridge; good coverage by some avid users has made this a rich resource for this park - but there is plenty more to do!