Junipero Serra County Park climbs the eastern slope of San Bruno Mountain in the southwestern corner of the city, a slice of the original Californian landscape preserved against the surrounding sprawl. The park covers about 100 acres of oak woodland, chaparral, and grassland, with a network of trails that lead to vista points looking across the bay to Oakland and the Berkeley hills.
The Live Oak Nature Trail is a short, mostly flat loop suitable for a quick stretch of the legs; the longer Quail Loop and De Anza Trail combine for around two miles of moderate climbing. Picnic shelters and barbecue pits make this a popular weekend spot with local families. The park is named for the Franciscan friar JunÃpero Serra, who founded California's mission system in the eighteenth century and would have passed close to this point on his journeys between Carmel and the Presidio of San Francisco. A small entry fee is charged on weekends only.