California Native Plant Society Field Trip

Join Jake Sigg, Loretta Brooks and Chuck Heimstadt from the Yerba Buena Chapter of the California Native Plant Society for a walk on Sign Hill.

Loretta and Chuck are SSF residents whose back door opens onto Sign Hill. They are also volunteers for San Bruno Mountain Watch, co-sponsor of this walk, and work with them on restoration projects on Sign Hill and San Bruno Mountain. 

Sign Hill ("South San Francisco - The Industrial City") is a detached piece of San Bruno Mountain and its biological communities and species composition are identical. Most of Sign Hill is a South San Francisco City park, but it also contains sizable tracts of private, undeveloped land.  

In addition to being on the National Register of Historic Places and a monument in North San Mateo County, Sign Hill provides access to open space and miles of hiking trails. It is home to the Mission Blue butterfly and is rich in native grasses and wildflowers.

Because of the dearth of early rains it is difficult to predict what we'll see; however, there is still a cornucopia of riches. A prominent feature of Sign Hill is large tracts of hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea) that cover several acres, which is not characteristic in other parts of its range that extends from the Bay Area down the coast ranges to southern California.

Bring warm clothing and layers. Meet at 10am at the Stonegate (west) entrance to Sign Hill Park - exit off Hillside Boulevard in SSF onto Stonegate Drive and continue uphill and to the left until you reach the end of Ridgeview Court. There is a small parking area and plenty of street parking.

Some may want to extend their walk with Chuck & Loretta to the Hillside Trail on the south slope of San Bruno Mountain, hiking up to Picnic Rock and down into Juncus Ravine. We'll move our cars to access the Hillside Trail. Bring a snack or lunch and plan to be back to your car by 3pm or so.

Rain or shine. Heavy rain postpones to March 31, same time.