Big Canyon Park
There are three parks within a block from each other in San Carlos. Eaton Park and Big Canyon Park are natural open spaces with trails, while Crestview Park is much smaller and has a track, a basketball court, and jungle gyms.
There are two entrances into Big Canyon Park, one on Brittan Ave (across from Eaton Park) and the other one on Crestview Drive (across from Crestview Park). We chose the Crestview Drive one because there were more street parkings available. The entrance is located between two houses and marked by a sign.
The park is surrounded by a residential area. You can hear people playing and talking in their yard as you are walking on the trail.
You are high enough here to see across the bay.
The vegetation is dry, which is typical of a chaparral.
There are a few of these bridges throughout the trail.
The trail is narrow, so you will have to step to the side to avoid people coming from the opposite direction, which is not ideal if you are trying to avoid people during the Covid-19 pandemic. We visited on a weekday afternoon/evening and we only saw three other groups of people.
It is probably not too crowded here because there is not a lot of shade from the sun on certain sections of the trail.
We saw a lot of western fence lizards. They darted too quickly for me to get any pictures of them, but here is one I found from Animalia.
Crestview Park
We walked across the street to Crestview Park after completing the 1 mile Harold Drake Trail Loop. The parking lot is tiny, so I would recommend parking on the street.
The park was packed with kids riding their bicycles, people walking and jogging on the track, and dogs fetching. The park also has a basketball court, soccer field, and a playground.
This is the view when you look down the hill next to the track.
Photos taken July 2020.