Burleigh Murray Ranch State Park
Purchased by the State of California in 1983, this historic ranch property is hidden in a pristine valley south of Half Moon Bay. The area offers solitude and a rich assortment of plants and wildlife.
The Burleigh Murray Ranch is noted for the unique historic barn built against a hillside. The Mills Dairy Barn was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, 100 years after its construction began. It is an example of an English Lake County bank barn, a two-story barn set along a hill or slope. This design is most common in the English and Welsh Lake Counties. The barn at this ranch is the only identified example of an English bank barn in California.
Currently, the main hiking trail is the old ranch road that follows alongside Mills Creek for approximately a mile through groves of mature eucalyptus, red alder, and buckeye until it reaches the Mills Barn. Past that point the road continues into a narrow valley between steep chaparral covered hills.
The walking is good for an additional half mile above the barn past wooden tanks; then the trail fades away into the dense growth of stinging nettles, poison oak, and coyote brush.
