Laurelwood Park and Sugarloaf Mountain

Spring Summer Fall Winter

Laurelwood Park, August 2011 (Jennifer Rycenga)

Description

Area Habitats
Chaparral, Mixed Oak Woodland, Mixed Woodland, Oak Woodland, Riparian, Suburban

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This park, maintained by the city of San Mateo, is one among the numerous foothill canyons of the county, providing welcome open space and great views. Laurelwood is attractive to many different kinds of park users, because it is a dog-friendly park, and it also features an extensive and well-maintained children's playground. Located in a suburban neighborhood, and easily accessible from the highway, Laurelwood might not seem so promising for birding.

However, the park is a pleasant surprise. Streams create the eastern and southern borders, providing mixed oak riparian habitat. The ascent up Sugarloaf Mountain not only reveals some fine chaparral, but most every birder who has walked here thinks this could be one of the better hawk-watch spots in fall migration in the county - someone just has to come up here at that time and prove the hunch! Laurelwood has a major paved trail, which makes it handicapped accessible; it also has some of the most demanding short trails in the county: steep, slippery, tricky, in exposed sun. In short, Laurelwood is a birding site waiting to be more fully explored. It has been covered in Christmas Bird Counts, and merited an occasional visitor, but has yet to produce the kind of major rarity that would attract a crowd.

The park is most easily accessed from Glendora Drive; street parking is required. The park is well-marked; looking down you'll see the playground, restroom and picnic tables. There are two trail choices to start your exploration. The Tenderfoot Trail is the paved trail; it hugs the north-eastern boundary of the park, ending in about .3 of a mile at Laurelwood Drive. Just before its end, the rough trailhead for Laurelwood Park Trail can be found. Climb carefully up the hill for spectacular views, as well as chaparral birds like California Thrasher, Wrentit, both local Jays, and fly-over birds like Band-tailed Pigeon, gulls and raptors. You can snake your way down, either to the north (in a loop back to the playground) or to the south (towards Belmont).

The other choice at the beginning of your visit to Laurelwood is to walk the Salson Trail. This path begins to the west of the playground area; it has a locked gate, which should be the only gate visible to you looking west. This trail is quite level, and includes good oak habitat, riparian, and some brush piles. Both trails can be done in a single visit of a few hours.

There is no trail map printed at the site, and the map provided by the city of San Mateo (see link below) does not give trail names. The trails are clearly marked, however, on the eBird maps for this area; your author recommends printing these pages at the level of detail necessary to read the trail system in its entirety.

This is an excellent park for birders who want to combine their birding with walking their dogs (dogs are required to be on leash in the park), or babysitting young children.

Look For These Birds

Canada Goose (fly-over), California Quail, Double-crested Cormorant (fly-over), Turkey Vulture, White-tailed Kite, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Ring-billed Gull (fly-over), Short-billed Gull (fly-over), Western Gull (fly-over), Herring Gull (fly-over), Glaucous-winged Gull (fly-over), California Gull (fly-over), Rock Pigeon, Band-tailed Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Anna's Hummingbird, Allen's Hummingbird (migrant), Great Horned Owl, Western Screech-Owl, White-throated Swift, Acorn Woodpecker, Nuttall's Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Red-breasted Sapsucker (winter), Northern Flicker, American Kestrel, Olive-sided Flycatcher (unusual here, in migration), Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Black Phoebe, Say's Phoebe, Hutton's Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Steller's Jay, Western Scrub-Jay, American Crow, Common Raven, Cliff Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Tree Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, Barn Swallow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Oak Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch (uncommon), Pygmy Nuthatch (uncommon at this location), Brown Creeper (uncommon at this location), Bushtit, House Wren (uncommon at this location), Pacific Wren (rare at this location), Bewick's Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (uncommon at this location), Wrentit, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Western Bluebird (uncommon here), Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Varied Thrush (winter), Northern Mockingbird, California Thrasher, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow Warbler (fall migrant), Yellow-rumped Warbler (fall-spring), Black-throated Gray Warbler (rare at this location), Townsend's Warbler (fall-spring), Wilson's Warbler, Fox Sparrow (winter), Dark-eyed Junco, White-crowned Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Song Sparrow, California Towhee, Spotted Towhee, Western Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak (spring-summer), Western Meadowlark (uncommon at this location), Hooded Oriole (spring-summer), Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, House Finch, Purple Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow

Rarities Seen Here

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

Wild Turkey, Ferruginous Hawk (2013, migration), Black-and-White Warbler (2013), Lark Sparrow (2012)

Directions

There are a few access points to the park, but the principal one is along Glendora Drive. From here you can walk down to the playground, picnic area and restrooms on a paved trail. The address given for this on-street parking is officially 3471 Glendora Drive, San Mateo. To reach this address, take the De Anza exit from SR 92, and travel southeast. De Anza becomes Glendora. The park is highly visible on your right. The only available parking is on the right-hand side of the road. Another way to reach here is to exit SR92 at Hillsdale, travel south on Hillsdale, and take a right onto Glendora. It is also possible to ascend Sugarloaf from the southwest, starting from near the intersection of San Juan, Laurel Creek, and Bartlett, but this author has not yet attempted this.

Interactive Map

Fees

The park is free to all.

Hours

The posted hours of the park are from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm.

Hazards

The Sugarloaf Mountain trails are very steep, and slippery: if you attempt them, have your best hiking boots on, and step with care. The habitat could likely support the usual rare nuisances: rattlesnakes, ticks, mountain lions. But your chances of encountering one of these beasties are slim here, especially because of this being a multi-use park with dogs and their humans being present.

Facilities

There is a bathroom on site. It may be the cleanest park bathroom in all of San Mateo county. It is worth making a trip to see it, in and of itself. It also has an automatic hand-dryer that is louder than standing on the runway at SFO. You've been warned. All of this information applies to the women's room only, which is open from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm every day. No research was conducted on the men's room. Birders of that gender are invited to submit their findings to the SMCBG editor.

There are stores at the intersection of Glendora Drive and Hillsdale about a mile from the park. There are picnic benches at the park. As mentioned above, the park features an excellent playground for children, and bags are provided for pooper scooper purposes.

Accessibility

  Accessibility information is currently not available for this location.

Contact

The San Mateo City Park District can be contacted at 650-522-7700.

Links

• The official city of San Mateo website offers a map, but not much else of substance.
• These Yelp reviews explain why this park is a favorite with parents and dog-walkers.

Avian Research Status

Laurelwood Park/Sugarloaf Mtn. has data in 38 of 48 time quadrants, representing 93 species, a dramatic growth since it was first established as a hotspot in eBird in 2009. Keep on recording! The eBird hotspot information page is here.

The iNaturalist information link on Laurelwood/Sugarloaf can be found here.

Laurelwood Park/Sugarloaf Mtn. was the site of San Mateo county's first citizen-science Bio-Blitz, in October 2013. You can view the results here. This event was co-sponsored by Sequoia Audubon Society, iNaturalist, Nerds for Nature, and the California Academy of Sciences.

Sequoia Audubon Society has led two field trips here in the 2010s; this is a friendly location for shorter trips and should be visited more often.

Additional Photos

Playground and Modern Restroom at Laurelwood Park, August 2011 (Jennifer Rycenga)

Hooded Oriole, August 2012 (Chris Johnson)

Mixed Oak Riparian Habitat, along Salson Trail, Laurelwood Park, August 2011 (Jennifer Rycenga)

Golden-crowned Kinglet, November 2009 (Kris Olson)

View looking northwest from near summit of Sugarloaf Mtn., Laurelwood Park, August 2011 (Jennifer Rycenga)

Riparian habitat along the paved Tenderfoot Trail, Laurelwood Park, August 2011 (Jennifer Rycenga)

California Towhee adult and juvenile; the juvenile, to the right, still has remnants of streaking on its upper and side breast, and is drooping its wing. Laurelwood Park, August 2011 (Jennifer Rycenga)