Guides
The best easy hike south of California's Silicon Valley.
Uvas Canyon is a treasure tucked in the hills just beyond the suburban bedlam of Silicon Valley and the South Bay. Spring-fed creeks keep the water running all year -- albeit at a trickle in the summer and fall -- but winter is the best time to come, especially after a big storm blows in off the Pacific Ocean. Local hiking clubs often make Uvas their...
360 degree view of Monterey Bay, San Benito Valley, Salinas Valley, and the Santa Lucia Mountains east of Big Sur.
The trail starts off by going up the service road a few feet, and cuts off to the right. The trail is very nicely up-kept, and is wide enough for two people. The loop is fairly short and only takes about thirty minutes to complete. The trail gets fairly steep at the end and can prove challenging for some people. For the less eager there is a great...
Scenic, easy hike is a great choice for campers and families at the Santa Clara County park.
Meadow Trail at Mount Madonna County Park passes the pen holding the park's small herd of white fallow dear - a crowd-pleasing locale for youngsters. The park south of San Jose, California, has three popular campgrounds that might leave parents wondering where to work off some of their kids' energy. While some kids are up for much longer hikes,...
9.3 mile loop trail in Mt. Madonna County Park
Bay Area Ridge Trail: Mt. Madonna Loop is about 9.3 miles long and located near Interlaken, California. The trail is great for hiking and normally takes a full day
Hike past redwoods and the ruins of a land baron's mansion at this park south of San Jose
Mount Madonna County Park is one of the most popular camping destinations in Santa Clara County, and this route is one of the best ways to see all the park has to offer. Sprig Lake trail passes all three of the park's major campgrounds, and makes a scenic ascent (or descent) through one of the prettiest stands of redwoods in the park. Another...
The Forest of Nisene Marks SP boasts an old Lumber Railroad Grade.
An introductory walk into the lower reaches of Nisene Marks. This trail is highly popular with the locals for an afternoon break. It's a good one for walks, jogging, and much of it is accessible to bikes. The trail also provide access to the trail heading deeper into this 10,000 acre state park. Dogs are OK on the fire road. Much of this particular...
Strenuous hike promises great views of the rugged backcountry southwest of San Jose, California
Steep trails lead to excellent vistas at Rancho Cañada del Oro Open Space Preserve, which covers a swath of the rugged foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The high ridges look out over much of Silicon Valley; on clear days you can see the white domes of the telescopes atop Mount Hamilton. It's difficult to imagine such rough country so close...
A pleasant, scenic stroll in the hills at the Harvey Bear Ranch section of Coyote Lake County Park
This six-mile loop over the rolling hills of Harvey Bear Ranch introduces hikers to the wild terrain of the Diablo Range southeast of San Jose, California. Harvey Bear is a section of Coyote Lake County Park, which is popular with campers, boaters and paddlers. As the wide-open trails ascend, expansive views of Silicon Valley to the north and the...
Shady hike is a great getaway from the campgrounds at Coyote Lake County Park.
Coyote Lake County Park southeast of San Jose has plenty of options for boaters, paddlers and campers, but the hiking options were pretty thin until Santa Clara County acquired the neighboring Harvey Bear Ranch section, the halfway point of this out-and-back hike. This route starts across the road from the Lake View Campground -- a handy trailhead...
Trips
Uvas Canyon Waterfalls, 3-08-09
Sveadal, California, United States
Hiking | 5.3 miles (12.2 miles away)
Hiking | 5.3 miles (12.2 miles away)
Uvas Canyon is one of the loveliest locales in the San Francisco Bay Area after a couple weeks of winter rains. I hiked 5.3 miles with 1476 feet of elevation gain over nearly four hours (lots of breaks for pictures and enjoying the scenery). Hike writeup at Two Heel Drive.
Bay Area Ridge Trail - Mount Madonna County Park
Interlaken, California, United States
Hiking | 8.7 miles (7.7 miles away)
Hiking | 8.7 miles (7.7 miles away)
Where to hike on a 90+ degrees day? We've heard from several sources that Mount Madonna was a great hiking destination when the temperature was high, and Antony (Bullit) wanted to go after the foxglove flower that Sam (Sammydee) had noticed the day before. Plus Antony noticed that Mount Madonna County Park offered a Bay Area Ridge Trail section. Long story short: Antony, Joe (CC) and I were ready to hit the...
The Forest of Nisene Marks is a coastal park out of Aptos, ca. that is a California State Park. Located on Aptos Creek road, this park is popular with joggers and cyclists (as well as hikers). We started our hike from the Mary Easton picnic parking area. This parking area is about a mile and a half from the park entrance, down a graded dirt road. There is parking for about 6...
West Ridge - The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park
Monte Toyon, California, United States
Hiking | 8.7 miles (10.3 miles away)
Hiking | 8.7 miles (10.3 miles away)
A quick hike in a famous State Park that I have never (!) visited before.I climbed up the West Ridge Trail, whose grade was very gentle and pleasant. Unfortunately, there was no views since you stay in the redwoods pretty much all the time. The good thing is that there was very little mud on this trail.I then went down using Ridge Connection Trail and this was a different story. While I...
Hiking in 100degree heat with Bullit and Vaudesir.Started at Sprig Recreation parking area off Highway 152. Took Merry Go Round tail. Extreme heat hard grade made me reconsider hiking as a recreation. Cheered on by Bullit and Vaudesir, we eventually made it to the rest area near Old Mine Trail. We continued on Merry Go Round to the BART section of the trail. We found crystal clear spring water which I used...
Verdant Madonna
Strongs Mobile Village, California, United States
Hiking | 3.4 miles (7.8 miles away)
Hiking | 3.4 miles (7.8 miles away)
big slidewhow javascript:nicTemp();This was supposed to be at least a five mile hike winding
through the heart of the park, but due to exigent circumstances I had to cut it
short. I’ve been to Mt. Madonna park
many times, but most of the time I hiked from Mt. Madonna road along the Loop trail
(what an imaginative name) for a mile and then back with my dogs, so I really
don’t know the park very well.
I started in...
Sam (Sammydee) proposed Woody and I to go hiking in Uvas Canyon before the rain hits the Bay Area. I hike Knibbs Knob in 2007 but hadn't hike along the creek and the waterfalls since 2006. It was about time I pay a new visit to this park.It started raining a little bit when we arrived around 8 am, and rained harder as time went by. We were pretty drenched at the...
Bay Area Ridge Trail: Mt. Madonna Loop
Interlaken, California, United States
Hiking | 9.3 miles (7.7 miles away)
Hiking | 9.3 miles (7.7 miles away)
We attempted to beat the SJ valley heat by hiking a section of the BART in Mt. Madonna today. The hike started at 98F at 500 feet and didn't really let up until about 1700 feet and four miles. Unfortunately Madonna's natural AC didn't turn on until near the end of the BART section so it became a tough little hike with lots of rest stops and a lot of water consumed....
Mt Madonna Merry-go-round/Sprig trail
Gilroy, California, United States
Hiking | 9.8 miles (7.8 miles away)
Hiking | 9.8 miles (7.8 miles away)
Mt. Madonna - Merry-go-round to Sprig trail - 9.8 miles / 2000ft elevation changeWe started off at the Sprig Lake parking lot. This lot is free and does have a port-a-potty. There are maps at the trail head. We decided to start up the Merry-go-round trail since we wanted to get the elevation done with while it was cool. After about a mile of shade, the trail is out in the open...
Land of Medicine Buddha
Cliftwood Mobile Home Park, California, United States
Hiking | 7.3 miles (12.1 miles away)
Hiking | 7.3 miles (12.1 miles away)
Park in the lower lot as you enter the property, you'll see the temple in the first picture and from there it's pretty easy to figure out where to park. I'm remiss in not recording what should be done at each "station" but there are informational signs to guide you along the way and you quickly realize why buddhists are so mellow and kind as it's a very relaxing area. If I...
Canada Del Oro - Bald Peaks
Mountain Home, California, United States
Hiking | 8.8 miles (16.4 miles away)
Hiking | 8.8 miles (16.4 miles away)
Rebecca, Laurent and I had a super hike at the Rancho Canada del Oro Open Space Preserve ... openspaceauthority.org and Calero County park ... parkhere.org. We hiked the Mayfair, Longwall Canyon, Bald Peaks and Serpentine Loop trails. Flowers were out in force ... including the first Indian Paintbrush I've seen this season. The air was quite clear, and we got some fantastic shots of San Francisco, the Bay Bridge and even what...
