Irish Ridge Trail

Irish Ridge Trail starts at the end of the Bald Knob Trail and drops down the Ridge Line immediately. The trail drops steeply along an old dirt farm road, providing a nice wide trail to hike on. After descending roughly a quarter of a mile, the woods open up on the right hand side of the trail, and you get great views of the Pacific Ocean and the hills below the preserve. This is a great view of the ocean, and the best views along the trail in terms of how much you can see from this point. After enjoying the view, the trail continues to descend deeper into the preserve as the trail follow the old road. In the winter, keep an eye out for banana slugs that can be seen in the trail and along side it. Mushrooms also can be seen growing along the trail. The trail levels out and rolls slightly from the half mile point to about a mile, when the trail starts to descend steeply again. The trail meets up with the Lobitos Creek Trail, which breaks off to the right, at just after one mile. The road continues to descend to the preserve boundary where a sign warns you that if you continue, you are on private property. At this point, you need to retrace your steps to get back to where you started.