Dan's Outside

Santa Teresa Park

Rock, lichen, California Poppy. Santa Teresa Park. January 30, 2005. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell

I hiked at Santa Teresa County Park for the first time today. (I rode a mountain bike through it on a few occasions in the past.) I ended up there more or less by accident. Once again I arrived at Calero Park to find the trails closed, and Santa Teresa was the closest hiking.

My limited previous experience with this park consisted of cycling from the Fortini Road entrance up the steep hill on the Stiles Ranch Trail and across to the main park facilities at the Pueblo Picnic Area. Today I started up the familiar section of Stiles Ranch Trail and wandered almost to the Pueblo Picnic area.

I was unaware that the park provides access to a high ridge topped by Coyote Peak. I hiked a loop up to Pueblo (?) Peak and across to Coyote Peak. Views from here are expansive, extending across Santa Clara Valley and the San Francisco Bay to the north, and down toward Gilroy to the south. I dropped down from here on a trail to the main parking lot, picking up the Fortini Trail to return to my starting point at the base of the Stiles Ranch Trail.
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January 30, 2005 - Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary