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Portola Valley – Altamont Road Vineyard loop from Hillsdale

Portola Valley – Altamont Road Vineyard loop from Hillsdale

Hard

4.6

(1591)

11,047

riders

Portola Valley – Altamont Road Vineyard loop from Hillsdale

04:16

86.5km

1,200m

Road cycling

Hard road ride. Very good fitness required. Mostly well-paved surfaces and easy to ride. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: August 13, 2026

Tips

Includes segments that go up or down a series of steps

You may need to carry your bike.

After 71 m for 14 m

After 86.5 km for 14 m

Waypoints

Start point

Train Station

Get Directions

8.46 km

View of Crystal Springs Reservoir from Cañada Road

Highlight (Segment) • Viewpoint

Bike Sunday - no motorized vehicles on Sundays, we've got the whole road for ourselves.

Tip by

24.6 km

Portola Valley

Highlight (Segment) • Settlement

The ride takes you through the (very) well-to-do town of Portola Valley, which usually ranks as one of the top 10 in the US in terms of average household income. You may have heard that Portola Valley has a higher population of horses than of people. While that seems to have been true only in much earlier years, this is still a town with a very high rate of horse ownership and, just like in the neighboring Woodside, you shouldn't be surprised if you encounter residents heading to the corner store on horseback.

Tip by

39.1 km

Byrne Preserve Lookout

Highlight • Viewpoint

A large open area of scrub, brush and hilly field. There is a parking lot here and access to several walking trails.

Tip by

41.2 km

Altamont Road Vineyard

Highlight (Segment) • Structure

Winding through a quiet residential area with minimal traffic, Altamont Road is perfect for a laid-back ride or linking up with tougher routes nearby. The gentle climbs make it super relaxing, and the hill views are awesome—especially around sunrise or sunset. It’s bike-friendly, but watch out for the occasional car on the narrower sections.

Tip by

45.9 km

Adobe Creek

Highlight • River

Adobe Creek flows from the Santa Cruz mountains to the Palo Alto Flood Basin. It used to be a perennial stream with lots of fish but has been canalised and managed so that it's now constant and doesn't have any fish.

Tip by

74.9 km

Pulgas Water Temple

Highlight • Monument

San Francisco built Pulgas Water Temple as a monument to the engineering marvel that brought Hetch Hetchy water more than 160 miles across California from Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the Bay Area. The Hetch Hetchy Project took 24 years to build through the Great Depression at a cost of $102 million.
On October 28, 1934, the roar of Hetch Hetchy mountain water greeted everyone gathered at Pulgas Water Temple to celebrate its arrival. With vivid memories of the fire that had raged after the Great Earthquake of 1906, the city rejoiced in its new secure, plentiful supply of high quality drinking water. The frieze above the columns expresses the city’s relief: “I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people.”
Pulgas Water Temple was designed in the Beaux Arts style by William Merchant, a San Francisco architect trained by Bernard Maybeck. Merchant’s design featured fluted columns and Corinthian capitals to reflect the architecture of ancient Greeks and Romans, whose engineering methods were used to build the new water system. Artist and master stone carver Albert Bernasconi brought Merchant’s drawings to life.
Pulgas Water Temple is located about one-half mile south of the Cañada Road trailhead.
Open free to bikers & pedestrians every day, car parking opens only M-F 9-4
sfwater.org/index.aspx?page=93
Biketrail with more highlights and annotated photos at komoot.com/tour/11413421

Tip by

86.5 km

End point

Train Station

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

45.2 km

25.7 km

15.2 km

273 m

160 m

< 100 m

Surfaces

81.1 km

5.03 km

346 m

< 100 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Highest point (230 m)

Lowest point (0 m)

Weather

Today

Wednesday 2 September

22°C

14°C

13 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 31.0 km/h

to get more detailed weather forecasts along your route

Comments

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Portola Valley – Altamont Road Vineyard loop from Hillsdale

View of Crystal Springs Reservoir from Cañada Road

Portola Valley

Byrne Preserve Lookout

Altamont Road Vineyard

Adobe Creek

Pulgas Water Temple

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