Feasibility Study of the 90-Mile Multi-Use Ohlone-Portolá Heritage Trail

A Spanish expedition in search of Monterey Bay led to the accidental "discovery" of San Francisco Bay in 1769 from atop a ridge in today's San Mateo County in California.

To mark the 250th anniversary of this event, an effort was undertaken to tell the story of the expedition and of the native people who greeted the Spanish warmly, but whose lives and culture were nearly eradicated within a few short years. The goal of the feasibility study was to designate a 90-mile multi-use trail on public lands that traces the steps of the Spanish expedition and highlights the native people they encountered.

California State Parks gave the Planning Merit award to San Mateo County Parks Department for the Ohlone-Portolá Heritage Trail at the California State Parks Trail and Greenways Conference in 2020.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn how a 90-mile multi-use trail was planned through San Mateo County from the Pacific Ocean to the San Francisco Bay

• Learn how the Ohlone-Portolá Heritage Trail traces the steps of the Spanish expedition and highlights the native people they encountered

• Learn how two people’s very different but equally weighted interpretations can be told.

Questions from the Webinar

Webinar Resources

• San Mateo County Park webpage: Ohlone-Portolá Heritage Trail Feasibility Study
• Measure K Story: Ohlone-Portolá Heritage Trail
• Two Documentary Films about the Ohlone-Portolá Heritage Trail and the Sanchez Adobe
• Bay Area Backroads Story: Ohlone-Portolá Heritage Trail
• Golden Gate National Recreation Area’s “Discovery Site”
• City of Pacifica, CA Webpage: Ohlone-Portolá Heritage Trail
• Peninsula Open Space Trust: Ohlone-Portolá Heritage Trail

Trail Competencies

• Project Planning and Design
• • Define Purpose, Need, and Feasibility of Project

Relevant Trail Types

General. All trail types are relevant.