Between San Francisco And San Jose Is A Grassy Hilltop With Breathtaking Bay And Ocean Views

When it comes to never-forget-me views, San Francisco's Bay Area has you covered. This corner of the West Coast has rock-studded beaches that gaze up at the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, the salt-washed sea lion coves of Pier 39, and the soaring heights of Grizzly Peak — to name just three. There are also plenty of spots that have incredible San Francisco Bay views you can get without hiking, but those willing to go the extra mile, drive a little, and pull on their trekking boots, should head out to the under-the-radar escape of Windy Hill, where breathtaking panoramas abound.

Officially called the Windy Hill Open Space Preserve, this 1,414-acre section of designated wilderness has a fine location along the famous Skyline Boulevard — a winding, wiggling roadway that weaves along the main ridge of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Dive in to find stands of moss-covered evergreens that merge with exposed meadowlands and grassy hills. You'll also find the hill after which the park is named, a spot that offers seriously spectacular views rolling out west to the Pacific Ocean and all the way east to the summit of Mount Diablo.

What's handy is that there are multiple access points and parking lots for the Windy Hill Preserve. You can get in from the aforementioned Skyline Boulevard or enter via the Portola Valley below. The first option is the scenic route, which takes roughly 40 minutes from San Francisco International Airport and passes through redwood groves and mountains. The second is quicker, taking just 30 minutes from SFO and the same from downtown San Jose.

There's no doubt about it: The views are one of the great draws of the Windy Hill Open Space Preserve. They erupt around the 1,930-foot-high summit of Windy Hill itself, and are pretty spectacular in all directions. Look inland to spy the outline of Mount Diablo lording over the eastern side of the Bay Area with its chaparral-haloed summit. Without clouds, Mount Tamalpais — a majestic San Francisco mountain with misty redwood trails aplenty — can be made out to the north. Meanwhile, in the west, if the regular coast fog moves away, the big blue Pacific will smooth the way to the horizon.

You shouldn't even have to work all that hard to gain the panoramas, either. It's a mere 10-minute hike from the parking lot on Skyline Boulevard directly to the peak. Or, you could take a little longer over it, hiking the 1-mile Anniversary Trail, which loops from the main road up to the top with just over 100 feet in elevation gain.

Those planning to enter the Windy Hill Open Space from the Portola Valley entrance will need to take a slightly longer route. According to Redwood Hikes, the Razorback and Spring Ridge Loop is the finest option for those coming in from below. It connects the 5.6-mile Razorback Trail with the 5.6-mile Spring Ridge Trail, encompassing a real hodgepodge of environments — from thick forest to open grassland higher up.

The Windy Hill Open Space Preserve is a mosaic of ecological areas spanning more than 1,000 feet of elevation in the mountains between San Jose and San Francisco. That makes it a doozy for budding birders or botanists, who can move between dense oak stands and exposed hillsides in search of hawks, woodpeckers, and more.

The summit where you'll enjoy those aforementioned views in all directions is characterized by open, undulating grass meadows, which help keep the 360-degree show largely uninterrupted. What's more, despite the moniker, SFGate reports that it might not be quite as windy at the top as you might expect, since there is a touch of protection on this eastern side of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Windy Hill is just one of several designated open spaces in this corner of the Bay Area. The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, which runs Windy itself, manages over 70,000 acres of protected habitat in the region, linked together by 250 miles of trails. The soaring hiking area and wildflower walks of the Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve sit just over a five-minute drive down the road, while the vast 3,137 acres of the Russian Ridge Preserve are immediately to the south, offering spectacular springtime wildflower displays.