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South Bay
& Other Local
Hiking Trails and Parks
This is a personal collection
of parks I have visited and hiked or biked in, over the years.
All are good choices for recreation and some offer unique and varied
hiking or biking trails. I also do regular hiking myself and if
you would like to join me, please use the contact information at the bottom of this page. I always carry my camera and I always get that "special" shot.
Alum Rock Park
This Park is a City of
San Jose park but not
your traditional city park. This park is huge with an abundance
of hiking
trails and picnicking facilities.
Alum Rock Park is your basic
"Box" Canyon. There are trails on both the north and the south
rims of this Canyon Park. My hikes usually start at the
Penitencia Creek
entrance and go up the North rim including the "Todd Quick" trail and
then a hike up to the east end to pick up the trails on the south
rim.
The total hike around the park is probably about 2000+ elevation change
and
approximately 8 miles. Shorter hikes can be taken. There
are lots
of restrooms and picnic areas. This park has a rich past
including at one
time: trolley service and mineral baths. The trolley
service is
mostly evident on the west end of the park and the mineral baths are
mostly
evident along the creek, on the east end of the park. A must see
for
families. This park is stroller friendly as well, in most parts
of the
canyon floor. Be prepared to walk a couple of miles just to see
the canyon
floor sights in the picnic areas.
To get to the south entrance (MAP) follow Alum Rock Ave. north from
101 to
the South Park entrance. (Opps, this entrance is temporarily
closed.
Use the Penitencia entrance ONLY) The Penitencia Creek entrance is also
very good
for the trail enthusiasts. You can get on Penitencia from (MAP) North Capitol Ave. as well.
Alameda Creek Trail
This trail starts at Coyote
Hills Regional Park
(MAP) or any one of several points along the
trail. Not to suited for hiking as it is really a boring walk on
a
levee. More suited for running (mostly unpaved) and Biking. It is well suited for strollers.
No restrooms. No trees. Sterile
scenery. A little bit of fun.
Coyote Hills Regional Park
This park is probably the
least known but
most interesting park you may ever visit in the local area. To
get there
(MAP) is not very easy as the roads are a
little
obscure. Patterson Ranch road is the main entrance. To get to
Patterson
Ranch Road, take the Thornton Ave. exit off of Hwy 84 (West Bound to
Dumbarton
Bridge) Go north on Thornton and look for a left onto Patterson Ranch
Road.
What is interesting about this park is a very unique trail system
through the salt-water
marshes and around various Indian burial mounds. Very suitable
for family
bike riding and hiking. Stroller access is rough but
useable. If
you are on the west side of the "hill", keep going south and follow
the trail across hwy 84, (use the pedestrian bridge).
Once you cross hwy 84, you can also visit the "San Francisco Bay
National
Wildlife Refuge", a marshland natural museum, as well as go on a trail
leading onto the "old" Dumbarton Bridge. This is what was left
of the old Dumbarton Bridge that was demolished and sent to the bottom
of the
bay. They made a fishing pier out of what was left. There
is also
automobile access to both the museum and the old Dumbarton
Bridge. Certain
times of the year, auto access is closed off to prevent interfering
with the
nesting of the “Sand Plover”.
There are also lots of levee trails in this area, to ride on as
well.
There are both restrooms and picnicking at Coyote Hills. A picnic
spot is
a nice place to use to embark on various trail explorations.
Joseph D. Grant's Ranch
Take the Mount Hamilton
Road to get to
Grant's Ranch. (Reference MAP)
The best
way to start out is to take Alum Rock North exit off of southbound
Highway 101.
Go north on Alum Rock until you
get to Mount Hamilton Road. Go East on Mount Hamilton Road until
you get
to Grants Ranch. (Long curvy way.) Trails start at both the
ranch
entrance and if you go a lot further up the road, there is a ridge
trail that
is extremely interesting. This trailhead is called "Twin
Gates". Lots of restrooms at all trail heads and only trees
beyond
that. Excellent rating for both hiking and biking. This
park is probably
not good for younger children. For additional info go to Santa Clara County Parks and Trails
Mission Peak
From Milpitas, take 680 or 880 north and
exit Mission Blvd. East. (Reference MAP)
Turn right on Stanford. (Second stop light after getting off of the
freeway) Stanford dead ends on the park trail head. This
trail goes
at a steep incline all the way to the top at 2517 feet. The only
respite
is when the incline drops from a murderous angle to a "sucks less"
murderous
angle. Never the less, this hike offers one of the most panoramic
views
of the bay that any trail will offer. Once you get close to the
top and
cross the ridge, you will get a view of the "other" side of the
mountain as well. Not stroller friendly and small children need
to have
proven durable hiking skills. That
is unless you want to pack some live weight up the hill. Allow up
to 3
hours for hiking to the top and back.
Rancho San Antonio
This is a huge county
park. A gem in
the County Park system and well maintained. To get there, go
north or
south on 280 towards Cupertino.
Then go west on Foot Hill Blvd. (MAP)
At the first stop light west of 280-turn right. This road will
take you
directly to Rancho San Antonio. The trail selection is
vast. For
starters, I would recommend going to the North most parking area and
hiking to
the "Farm Display". The trails stretch beyond the farm display
going
in several different directions and difficulty. Pick up a map at
the
parking lot and select the trail most likely to result in your best
heart
conditioning. My daughter does her SJS cross-country team
training in
this park. The trails to the farm display are suitable for a
stroller and
small children. (There was a huge litter of piglets this past
summer.) Bathrooms are at the parking lots and at the farm
display.
For additional info go to Santa
Clara County
Parks and Trails
Sierra Azul
The Sierra Azul trail head
is at the top of
Kennedy Road. (ROAD MAP) To get
there, take 17 to Los
Gatos East exit on Saratoga Los Gatos Ave (Hwy 9). Take a
left on Los Gatos
Blvd and a right on Kennedy. Stay on Kennedy to the "Top of
the Hill"
where Kennedy forks, be sure to stay right. The
Sierra Azul trail is the premiere kick off for the
extreme hiker and biker. At the trail head you are about at
400' elev.
(TRAIL
MAP)
The climb
tops out at 2700" at the first point and 3300' at the topmost
point.
Restrooms are at the trail head only (unless you count
trees). This trail is probably
not suitable for normal strollers or young children. Big
wheel kiddie pushcarts
will work. The hike to the top is unending and even on my
best day, took over
an hour on my bike. According to the map, 4.1 miles to the
first peak.
Spectacular views. On hot
days, take
lots of drinking water along.
For the more adventuresome
with time to spare,
this trail connects up with “Power Line”, “Ridge”, “Priest Rock”, “Over
Grown” “Hicks”
and “Jones Trail”. If possible, take a
guide (experienced trail person) to
do these bigger loops.
St.
Joseph's Hill
St. Josephs Hill is in the Los Gatos area. From the trail Head to the top and back is about
4 miles
roundtrip and about 800 feet of normal climbing. (nothing extreme) For a round trip, allow from 1 hour and
10 minutes to 1 and 1/2 hours.
To get to the trailhead, (MAP)
take 17 North or South to the Los Gatos "East" exit on Los
Gatos/Saratoga rd. exit (Hwy 9). At the second stop light, turn right
on Los
Gatos Blvd. Go south on Los Gatos Blvd. past a stop sign, past the high
school,
past the Ferrari dealer (You can stop and drool if you like) and then
turn left
at the next stop sign onto College Ave. Bear
right on College Ave. all the way to Jones Rd. Find
parking immediately and walk to the
trail head. Parking is limited
further up Jones road and there is a good chance you wont find any if
you go to
the end of Jones Road. (It’s only
about 100 yards from College Ave. to the trailhead.
Trust me, walk it.)
There are trail maps and a bulletin board at the
trail head. Yes, there
are no
rest rooms. This trail is suitable
for hearty children 6 and up and is a very popular area for mountain
biking as
well.
Wilder Ranch
Wilder Ranch is
approximately 3 miles north
of Santa Cruz on Hwy 1. (MAP) This is a Huge
State Park, also with a farm display but no animals of any
significance. There
are miles and miles of hiking and biking. The east part of the park is
more
suited to cover with Mountain Bikes. This
park is a nice place for a family outing to see a
display of an original coastal farm setup. The
rest of the park area east of farm house would probably
not be of interest to younger children. Hiking
is mostly moderate with some climbing. Due to the
expansive nature of this park, allow plenty of time to hike the east
part of
the park. This part of the park
goes almost up to Empire Grade so you can go quite far on most of the
trails.
There is a coastal hiking trail, which is suitable for children on
bikes and is
very interesting. Hiking the coastal trail would be good for family fun
as
well. Maps are at the entry gate
(fees charged) and restrooms are at the parking lot. There
is stroller access to the farm and beyond but only
recommended to the farm. At the
farm, there is a small museum.
Quick Silver
The Almaden Quick Silver Park is a rugged example of how quickly
you can transition
from the urban life to the country life.
There are several trailheads as the park is quite expansive. The north end of the park is accessible
from Camden Avenue (reference map). This trail head does not allow any
biking. The no biking is enforced
and tickets can be issued. The
south end of the park is accessible from Almaden road (reference map).
If you go further, you can intersect with Hicks road. Going up Hicks Road will give you
access to a trail head, which connects to the Serra Azul trail.
More trails and park to comment on later:
South Skyline Trail
Heads (Hwy 9 and Skyline Blvd)
Uvas Canyon (South County
off of Uvas and
Croy Road)
Mt. Madonna County Park
(midway between
Gilroy and Watsonville on Hwy 152)
Henry W. Coe (Way past
Anderson Lake via
Morgan Hill also has entrance by Coyote Reservor (Gilroy) at lower
level)
The following links should take you directly
to local park
resources:
East
Bay
Regional Parks
Mid-Peninsula
Regional Open Space Parks and Trails
Santa
Clara
County Parks and Trails
National
Parks in California
State Parks in California
Need
more information? Then please email me
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