Alum Rock Park, on San Jose’s southeastern edge, is about as fine a hiking park as you’ll find within the city limits of a town with a million people living in it. Most city parks have little need for trail…
Santa Clara County parks
Hot Sunday at Calero County Park
by tom • April 20, 2009 • 2 Comments
You don’t get a lot of this on trails near town: the feather touch of a spider’s silk on your calves that tells you you’re the first to pass this way today. I got some of that yesterday on the…
A great hike at Mount Madonna County Park
by tom • April 14, 2009 • 0 Comments
Mount Madonna Count Park is better known for its campsites and the ruins of a Gold Rush-era land baron’s summer home, but it does have one charming, little-used trail I happened upon primarily because I was too cheap to pay…
Bay Nature video at Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve
by tom • April 3, 2009 • 1 Comment
Beth from Bay Nature magazine posted a link to this video in a comment to my post about the possible reopening of Mount Umunhum. The guide points out many of the things blooming in the South Bay at this time…
If you want to see Grant Ranch in the worst way
by tom • March 11, 2009 • 1 Comment
You have to check out the Washburn Trail at Joseph D. Grant County Park (AKA Grant Ranch). It’s the meanest trail in a park that has an abundance of leg-burners. I saw a bunch of California poppies blooming on the…
Readers: Don’t be hatin’ on Harvey Bear Ranch
by tom • March 10, 2009 • 1 Comment
A couple years back I took an underwhelming stroll along the paths at Harvey Bear Ranch, which was Santa Clara County’s newest park at the time. Harvey Bear Ranch isn’t so bad — it’s got rolling hills, wacky oaks and…
Uvas Canyon Waterfalls revisited
by tom • March 9, 2009 • 1 Comment
I’ve moved Uvas Canyon County Park to the top of my list of parks to check out after four weekends of rain. Lots of other hikers will get the same idea if you go on a Saturday or Sunday, but…
Saratoga Gap to Long Ridge Open Space Preserve
by tom • December 1, 2008 • 2 Comments
I’m just about done for the day when a half-dozen 6- and 7-year-olds come barreling down the trail on their baby BMX bikes. I’m thinking, “don’t their dads know this is a state park and bikes aren’t allowed on these…
Mercury News article on ranching history of nearby parks
by tom • November 20, 2008 • 0 Comments
Lisa Krieger’s latest Wanderlust report covers ground trodden many times over around here. She starts at Grant County Park and ranges over to the Skyline Boulevard open space preserves. While the pioneers who toiled on our old family farms are…