San Felipe Trail

Overview

There is no vehicle access at the San Felipe Trail start shown in this description. The first 0.4 miles runs behind maintenance buildings to the San Felipe Group Picnic Area parking, and is only included for completeness in this description.<br><br>From the San Felipe Group Picnic Area at the 0.4 mile mark, San Felipe Trail skirts the woods on the right, and a field on the left. At about the 0.5 mile mark, watch for a break in the fence on the right with only a "No Bicycles" sign, go right here to stay on San Felipe Trail, and then immediately go left to cross a grassy, bushy area with VERY faint trail that runs next to a park road for the next 0.1 miles to to the Dutch Flat Trail trailhead.<br><br>From the Dutch Flat Trail trailhead, San Felipe Trail is flat as it runs at the edge of the woods, along a park road. Youth Camp Spur is reached at the 0.4 mile mark where San Felipe Trail jogs left onto the park road. After a short 0.1 miles of road hiking, a signpost is reached on the right. This signpost marks the start of Brush Trail. Although the signpost does NOT show how to continue on San Felipe Trail, San Felipe Trail and Brush Trail are the same for a very short ways, so go right onto Brush Trail/San Felipe Trail. Leaving the road behind,, almost immediately, is the signposted Brush Trail/Snell Trail junction. Follow the arrow onto Snell Trail (which is also San Felipe Trail here for a few hundred yards). A very short ways later is the Lower San Felipe Trail start, marked by a sign post. This Lower San Felipe Trail start is a total of only 0.1 miles from the road where Brush Trail starts. From here on, San Felipe Trail and Lower San Felipe Trail are the same trail.<br><br>Continuing on, San Felipe Trail descends very gradually as it runs on the southwest side of the broad San Felipe Creek Valley. To the right/southwest side of the trail, the thinly wooded hillside rises away from the trail. To the left/northeast, the open valley drops gradually to San Felipe Creek. Snell Barn is below in this valley. Howeve

Trail Stats

Photos

Deer along a stretch of San Felipe Trail that runs next to a park road.

Deer along a stretch of San Felipe Trail that runs next to a park road.

The beautiful thin woods along the northern end of Brush Trail, on a sunny spring day.

The beautiful thin woods along the northern end of Brush Trail, on a sunny spring day.

Snell Barn in the Diablo Range hills of Joseph D. Grant County Park. Mt. Hamilton, 4,265 ft., is in the distance toward the right. Lick Observatory can be seen at the top of Mt. Hamilton.

Snell Barn in the Diablo Range hills of Joseph D. Grant County Park. Mt. Hamilton, 4,265 ft., is in the distance toward the right. Lick Observatory can be seen at the top of Mt. Hamilton.

Snell Barn

Snell Barn

Snell Barn is nestled in the Diablo Range hills of Joseph D. Grant County Park. Springtime along (Lower) San Felipe Trail.

Snell Barn is nestled in the Diablo Range hills of Joseph D. Grant County Park. Springtime along (Lower) San Felipe Trail.

The spring green hills of the Diablo Range are seen across the San Felipe Creek Valley, through a break in the trees along Brush Trail.

The spring green hills of the Diablo Range are seen across the San Felipe Creek Valley, through a break in the trees along Brush Trail.

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