The hook
San Mateo County's oldest park: a grove of genuine old-growth redwoods on Pescadero Creek with a summer swimming hole, deep in the coast-side hills.
01Why it's worth it
Tucked in the hills between the peninsula and the coast, Memorial Park protects some of the last old-growth redwoods in San Mateo County, the big, ancient ones that most local parks only have as second growth. Pescadero Creek runs through it, with a dammed summer swimming hole that's a genuine local tradition, and the trails range from a flat interpretive loop under the giants to longer routes that connect to Pescadero Creek and the Old Haul Road. It's a working county campground rather than a pristine wilderness, so summer weekends are busy with families, but midweek and in the shoulder seasons it's a cool, quiet cathedral of big trees, minutes from the Highway 84 coast route.
02How to experience it
It's on Pescadero Creek Road, an easy add to a coast-hills day or a stop on the Old Haul Road gravel route. Do the flat redwood loop for the old-growth, hit the creek swimming hole in summer, or camp to have the trees to yourself at dawn.