Coe Park’s Steer Ridge
Serpentine rock gives way to beauty on the Donnelley Trail
As the Jim Donnelley Trail gently lifted me above Hunting Hollow, I was grateful to the volunteers at Henry Coe State Park who toiled to build it. Every other path up Steer Ridge is a direct assault up the silly steep slopes that enclose the hollow. Warm morning light dappled the lush forest floor as it sifted through the blue oak canopy just beginning to leaf out after a long wet winter. My reaching breath, my footfalls, and yakking acorn woodpeckers were the morning’s only sounds.
Coe volunteer and intrepid hiker, Heather Ambler, had recently traversed Steer Ridge and posted some photos of impressive flower displays she saw there. Even without a flower show, Steer Ridge dazzles with views and precipices that allow a hiker to see the world like a soaring raptor. Add a fleeting springtime color display to such a spectacular site, and the mission is clear: It’s time to hit the trail.
Mother Nature rarely delivers such rewards for free. No roadside vista point, Steer Ridge, topped by 2,651-foot Willson Peak, lies 4.5 miles and 1,700 feet above the Hunting Hollow staging area. Thankfully, the Jim Donnelley Trail’s gentle gradient transformed most of the ascent into an enjoyable walk. Half-way up, the wooded trail that had switched back and forth finally popped into open grassland. Views had been close at hand, but now widened to distant horizons. Below, Coyote Creek and Hunting Hollow appeared as through an airplane window.
At the junction of Steer Ridge Road, the polite gradient of the Jim Donnelley Trail gave way to several rude climbs typical of old ranch roads. But quickly, the going eased, and the road began its rolling way along the spine of the ridge. Looking north, the Coast Range tumbled beyond Pine Ridge all the way to Mount Hamilton. A bit to the east of north, I could see the Rooster Comb and Mt. Stakes, several walking days away near the northern boundary of Coe Park.
Much of Steer Ridge is underlain with serpentine, California’s state rock. While serpentine contains minerals toxic to most plants, it is oddly where some California wildflowers flourish. Among the plants unable to thrive in serpentine are the European turf grasses that carpet our hills and choke out native wildflowers. Their absence leaves room for native plants that have adapted to the toxins. This is why some of California’s most vivid wildflower displays occur there.
At the top of Steer Ridge, beside the trail sign to Willson Peak, I came upon a ball-field-sized outcrop of naked gray-green rock scarring the hill like tailings from some abandoned rock quarry. Yet in and around the serpentine, poppies, goldfields, bird’s eye gilia, and cream cups covered the area in garish swaths of color. Minutes from home, I stood amid a wildflower show the likes of which people drive hours to see.
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