This segment of the Bay Area Ridge Trail follows the ridges of the Santa Cruz Mountains, on the east side of Skyline Road. The single-track walk is almost all shaded and cool, and goes through a lot of diverse areas - second-growth redwoods and huckleberries, oak and madrone woodlands, chaparral, and Douglas fir forests.
This trail segment got it's start in the mid-1930s, when San Mateo County began requiring riding-trail easements when land was subdivided, to prevent loss of pre-existing trails. Then in the late 1940s - early 1950s, continued interest in trails generated a statewide plan for a California Riding and Hiking Trail system. This segment, running through private property easements was made part of that system, and is still called the California Riding and Hiking Trail on topo maps of the region.
Today, the trail runs through a fenced easement in the California Water Company's Bear Gulch Watershed. The fence is mostly unnoticeable. This segment was dedicated as part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail in 1989, the first year that the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council began dedicating segments. This trail tracker has a listing of all the Bay Area Ridge Trail segments.
It's a 4.8 mile one-way walk between the two given parking areas. It's mostly flat except a little up/down at either end, so it's a great trail for experiencing the diverse micro-environments of the Santa Cruz Mountains without having a lot of steep up/down sections. There aren't any great vista points, but it's a great place to be when it's hot everywhere else.
You're looking for a spice container. Since tree coverage will be a problem for some GPSrs, cache placement is not tricky. Feel free to post better coordinates.
Hours are 8:00 am to sunset (San Mateo County jurisdiction).