Trails climb up to a ridgeline with views across the Pescadero Creek valley, Butano Ridge, and the Pacific Ocean.

[1]: 12–16 After leaving the Modoc, McDonald booked passage to Alviso on the steamer San Jose; while deciding whether to continue on to Gilroy, he traveled to Mayfield to pursue an opportunity to drive horses for the Palo Alto Stock Farm.

McDonald first encountered Alpine Creek and the redwood forest near La Honda in August 1917 during a vacation with his boss, Mr.

[1]: 356–357 After his death in November 1957,[3] he bequeathed the La Honda property, by then exceeding 400 acres (160 ha), to Stanford; San Mateo County acquired the land in 1958 for $67,000 and created Sam McDonald Park in 1970.

Sam McDonald Park is divided into two halves approximately by Pescadero Road: 400 acres (160 ha) in the northwest, largely forested with redwood trees, and 450 acres (180 ha) in the southeast, open ridge and grassy knolls.