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Pure Purisima

Bigleaf maple, Purisima Creek Redwoods Preserve (11/6/20) Sam Reeves

Purisima Creek in San Mateo County was once my stomping grounds. I grew up on the San Francisco Peninsula and Purisima Creek Redwoods Preserve was just over the hill in Half Moon Bay.

I haven’t been back in years, but as a Boy Scout I hiked its trails, endlessly. So when Sam Reeves sent these photos, memories of my youth at Purisima came flooding back.

As Sam correctly reports, “Coastal California has a very different set of fall colors, but it’s definitely there for the taking.  The maples in the redwood forest have created a very nice ground canopy of color.  Bigleaf maple leaves were everywhere in the creekbed, on the trail, among the fern groves, and scattered about the hillsides.”

What you’re seeing in Sam’s photographs is fairly typical of fall color along the San Francisco Peninsula’s mountains. Bigleaf maple, poison oak, black oak, red alder, and creek dogwood are the foliage that provide spots of color near drainages.

Sam admits he’s been CaliforniaFallColor.com user for quite some time, but finally got fed up with being a lurker and decided it was time to post a report.

We’re glad he did, as it was a walk down memory lane for me, and he scores a First Report for Purisima Creek!

  • Purisima Creek Redwoods Preserve, Half Moon Bay (500′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!