Free Guided Hike of Owl Canyon San Bruno Mountain | Brisbane

Submitted by the Event Organizer

Owl Canyon is my favorite spot on the eastern flank of San Bruno Mountain. It is not as heavily forested as the adjacent Buckeye Canyon and is a bit more diverse with wildflowers. Owl has a pronounced central hump between each ridge line that makes the ascent up the canyon interesting and it still shows signs of the 2008 wildfire.

Many oaks, bays, toyons, hazelnuts, ocean sprays, holly-leaved cherries, coffee berries and oso berries have stump-sprouted and eleven years later prove how adaptable they are to fire. The fire-reliant blue blossom seeds in the soil have created large thick communities on the canyon walls. Wildflowers to look for are larkspur, star lily, hound’s tongue, paintbrush, yerba santa, lupine, johnny jump-up, blue-eyed grass, clematis and many ferns. We’ll have lunch on the flowering grassland ridge between Owl and Buckeye and hopefully see some colonies of blennosperma on the way down the ridge. Heavy rain cancels. Our meeting place is an industrial parking lot just below Owl Canyon.

From Bayshore Blvd. in Brisbane turn onto Valley Drive, proceed to the traffic light and turn left onto South Hill Drive. Turn left at the Aircraft Technical Publishers (ATP) sign at 101-111 South Hill. Drive to the rear of the parking lot.

Call or text at 415-269-9967 or email dougsr228@comcast.net if you have questions.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.