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San Jose, CA

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Calero County Park

3.7 (70 reviews)

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Play area to the right of our reserved spot at the entry
Amar D.

Went here for a basketball team celebration. Kids had a blast under the shaded reserved area - West Group Picnic Area #2 and area to the side. Water guns, soccer, frisbee, football - they had a blast. Was enough space for prob up to 50 people. We were a smaller group. Cost of reservation was $162. Only knock here was that there were no proper restrooms, only porter potties. Also included in the reservation from what we got: "boat launches are included in this reservation. Each vehicle is must pay the daily $6.00 vehicle entrance fee. (1) 5.5ft Charcoal BBQ (6) 7.5ft Picnic Tables Although parks open at 8:00 am daily, Day Use Reservation area usage is not recommended until 9:00am. Site clean-up generally occurs between 8:00-9:00am, so setting up before 9:00am could impact your site, and clean-up would not be guaranteed."

Lindsey C.

Beautiful park for dog friendly hikes! Our shih poo braved through 5.5 miles easily with well defined trails. There were sections of no shade on the hike we chose, but it wasn't too sunny. I can imagine on hotter days that the trials are more challenging due to this limited shade. Would recommend if you don't mind navigating through some horse poop.

Parking lot
Giselle M.

Calero is absolutely beautiful and such a wonderful place to hit the trails! Located in San Jose, it's always such a treat (and sometimes a surprise!) to find such vibrant, nature-rich places just 20-30 minutes from various towns in South Bay, including Downtown SJ! The trails in Calero County Park are surrounded by countless trees, so there are definitely pockets of shade sprinkled here and there. On our most recent visit, my hubby and I did the Los Cerritos Trail loop (about 3.6 to almost 4 miles). We parked in the main parking lot, which is free and has plenty of space (FYI - there are porta-potties there, but I don't remember seeing any other more permanent restrooms). On a weekday morning, there's no problem at all finding parking, but I can't speak to weekends since we haven't tried going here then. The trails are open daily from sunrise to sunset, and there are several different trails you can take depending on how far you want to hike. You may definitely see some mountain bikers or horseback riders along the way too. If you're heading out in the later morning or midday, definitely bring some sunblock and a hat just in case. Of course plenty of water too since there are some decent hills throughout! You'll definitely work up a sweat, and the bonus is you'll get some gorgeous views while doing so!

Rattlesnake!
Darin T.

Only about 10-15 minutes drive away from 101, this super clean and well maintained park was great. We were greeted by a ranger who told us that there was an event with free shuttles to the lake. Free, and had free kayaking, animal adoptions, etc. Super friendly and warm, and free parking! We hiked the Calero Figueroa and Pena Trail Loop. This was labeled easy by AllTrails.com, however we found it a bit challenging towards the end where there are 3-4 steep hills that got the heart rate way up. Some people like to go counter-clockwise according to AllTrails, where you'll take on those hills up front rather than at the end. Choose your own adventure. This is a bike and horse trail as well, so expect to dodge a few horse land mines along the route. We also got to see a rattlesnake! It was docile and did not rattle its tail at us, but blocked the path so we were apprehensive on what to do. We ended up running past it and it eventually slithered away, but gave us a good story and pictures. Just a word of warning if you have young children to keep an eye out. Also, there are 5-10 minute stretches of the hike without shade, so keep that in mind when the sun is out. Overall, we'll be back. This is a trail where you'll only see someone every 20-30 minutes, which is a welcome change to some of the super popular trails in the Bay.

Peter D.

Calero is based in South San Jose in the Almaden area. Although not much stands out about this trail, it has a good flow to it, making it very beginner-friendly to hike or bike. It's mainly fire roads that you can loop in either direction. I typically take my bike here but I have hiked here a few times and it's pretty a cool trail. Love the restrooms at the beginning of the trails; they are not portable restrooms which are pretty dirty in general. So extra brownie points for that! You can easily extend your trail to either Almaden Quicksilver Park, Bald Peak, Santa Teresa Park, or Oak Cove Trail. I typically start at Calero and then make my way up Santa Teresa Park and hit rocky ridge which is a pretty technical black diamond so just be aware of that. As for shade, it has very minimal spots of coverage but there are some patches of shade. If it is really hot I would not suggest going here because you are going to roast. Every time I go here I have to keep applying sun screen every hour or so because I get baked super quick in the sun.

Map legend
Jean T.

Pretty good spot to go for a hike! Came here on a Saturday parking near the main entrance and there was still plenty of parking around 11 am. Parking: it's free!! And there's a fair number of parking locations around the park which is a plus. There's a lot of trail options to choose from. Mainly open fields so make sure you bring enough water and sunscreen if you're there on a hot day. You might see people riding their horses on the trail too!

Take a bike ride!
Caleb M.

Calero county park is extremely beautiful! I love taking my dog on the Lisa Killough Trail. It's a nice short hike with nice scenery and it's not too hard!

Sarah T.

A favorite trail for bicyclists although there were a few hikers like myself and also two gals riding their horse! The trail is wide enough to allow bicyclists to pass by easily as you go about your way. I would say the path is easy to moderate with a slight incline in the beginning. There was just a small section still wet from the rain so I was trudging through mud but that didn't stop me or anyone else!

Happy with my friend
Thia L.

I have been to many lakes and beautiful parks in the bay areas. I came across this one so I wanted to check it out for the first time with my friend. I always been a nature lover who loves the water. We came here in August so it was plenty of Sunshines. It cost 6 bucks to park but we drove pass by not knowing that, but the lady there was kind enough to let us through and hang out take some pictures. Hehehe

Social distancing rules and Info
Sonia G.

Hidden gem in San Jose! Best bike/hiking route. Lots of hill, sun, and stunning views of beautiful homes and the reasavor. I am a pretty slow bike rider and it took about 2 hours to do the entire route. I love that there is plenty of parking, clean bathrooms, and Covid-19 safety protocol. People are very nice/friendly on this trail. Totally recommend. I am a beginner biker and this route kicked my butt with all of the uphill, sun and some narrow turning. Enjoy!

The map of the trails at Calero County Park
Korina Y.

January 11, 2020 Saturday Parking : SAN Vicente parking area at Calero County Park ( free ) there's clean restroom here. Spacious parking lot. There's a trails map , some brochures and notices at the trail head. You can pick whatever trails you'd like to take. We took the Lisa Killough Trail to the top of the hills where the radio towers stand. The hills were green, the sky was blue and super windy on top of the hills. There were hikers , trail runners and the mountain bikers. Not too crowded even though Saturday. From top of the hills, you get a view of the reservoir on one side and view of the city ( San Jose ) from the other side. It's very pretty. We saw a juvenile Golden Eagle soaring above the hills. WhaT a treat!!! He/she was giving us a spectacular show circling around near us for good 5 minutes or so. When we hiked back to the trailhead , we saw two white-tailed kites ( birds) hovering over not too far from us. I could see their white chests , gray wings and black shoulders clearly. Sooo beautiful. At the trailhead , we met a very nice Indian couple, they told us that Calero county park just opened to the public a few years ago , it used to be privately owned. They recommend us visiting Mt Umunhum and other parks in the area. So then off to our next adventure- Mt Umunhum!!! Off we go !

Lookout point where the Needlegrass Trail and Bald Peaks Trail meet
Anson W.

"Compartmentalized" is a word I would use to describe Calero County Park. RESERVOIR: -------------------- The north end of this 4,471 park has a large reservoir where people can fish and launch kayaks, jet skis and other watercraft. There is a boat launch area on the north side of the reservoir; parking there costs $6. Hiking trails do not connect to this area. HIKING TRAILS: -------------------- So how do you access Calero's 18.9 miles of trails? There are two parking areas (both free) that provide access to trails. The "main" one is along McKean Road and has outhouses and a drinking fountain. Trails here feature light to moderate inclines. Views are ok. The other parking area is along Casa Loma Road at the south side of Calero. Here there is a small paved lot with a single outhouse and no drinking fountain, and a larger overflow lot that is unpaved and rocky. The southern portion of Calero shares a border with Rancho Cañada del Oro, with trails connecting the two parks. A common hike on the south side is the 4-mile loop encompassing the Longwall Canyon Trail, Needlegrass Trail, Bald Peaks Trail and Little Llagas Creek Trail. This is a medium+ difficulty hike with moderate inclines right from the start. The climb up the Needlegrass Trail involves 800 feet of elevation gain. You're rewarded with awesome views looking down into the canyon, as well as a sweeping view of the valley from the lookout point where the Needlegrass Trail meets the Bald Peaks Trail. This 4-mile loop is fully contained inside Calero. For an extra challenge, hikers can take the long way through Rancho Cañada along the Longwall Canyon Trail to the Bald Peaks Trail, which adds another 4 miles. Most of the trails in Calero don't have much shade, so plan accordingly. Finally, there are many connecting trails that are closed due to "redevelopment", meaning that Calero and Rancho Cañada don't actually connect to any other parks. The County in 2013 published a 10-year plan to develop more trails here for public use, so we'll see if they put our tax dollars to work!

Nice view of Calero reservoir...
Sidney S.

"Hey, let's be careful out there." -- Sergeant Phil Esterhaus, Hill Street Blues Sidney Reviews A Calero Walking/Hiking Trail Part II This line from a previous Yelp review made me spit out my Diet Pepsi: "The trails are through dry grass meadows and quite hilly, so they were a lot of work". Really Sparky? You go out to the eastern foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains and the effort to go up the hills surprised you? Did the fact boats could float on the reservoir surprise you too? And no views on the trails? What? See some of my photos. If you actually go up the hills, and I recommend the 8 mile + Bald Peaks Loop (Yep, it is hilly) you will get some of the best views you can get from a foothill park (and without the intrusion of civilization you get at Almaden or Santa Teresa). Wildflowers are stunning here too in the springtime and even now I see a few leftover remnants. This is my go to after work hike right now and even on the 5 or 6 mile loops I do, you get a nice workout and lovely views of the Oaks and Reservoir. The Figueroa trail, off of McKean, is indeed dusty and used quite a bit by the horsey set but other than the trails are barely used at all especially by two-legged animals. In fact I see more deer and turkeys than human. In fact, what am I doing? I usually have this park to myself...forget everything I just wrote. Please. I'm lying. No good hiking here. Hills, too steep, too much work, you'd hate it. Stay away. Oaks on my photos - fake! All cut down. No shade. Reservoir - Dried up! No water, no views. Always smoggy. You'd catch asthma here. Go look at the photos of my hottie yelp friends instead. And do you think they'd be caught dead here? Of course not. The deers and turkeys scare them. So, in conclusion: hilly, no water in lake, trees all cut down, it is not Spring so no pretty flowers, no pretty or hot yelp girls here, scary deer and turkeys, nothing to see at all. Ignore the 5 stars, it is really a one star park.

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Ask the Community - Calero County Park

Is fishing allowed?

Yes. Lots of fishermen about. You have to walk around th Elsie to find a good spot. Lots of brush and weeds.

Can you go the day of and pay for parking?

Yes. You can pay for parking at the park booth when you get there.

Is swimming permitted at Calero?

No, unless your on a jetski or inner tubing

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Review Highlights - Calero County Park

“Now first things first you need to turn left from Bailey Ave onto McKean to get to the free parking lot and the trailheads.”

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Rotary PlayGarden

4.2(198 reviews)
13.8 mi•Downtown

Amazing park, so many things to interact with and play with. It's pretty well maintained! There's 2…read morezip lines, one with a bucket seat for younger kids or those who don't feel safe sitting on the regular one. Lots of cute chubby squirrels, be careful they're very curious and will look into your bags if you leave them unattended.

What kind of park has a zipline?!? THIS ONE. Two seating options, one with a harness for toddlers,…read morethe other for older kids (I even saw adults using this). The park also offers a fun and inclusive space for children, with climbing structures, sturdy cement slides, swings for both toddlers and older youth, a see-saw, merry-go-round, trampoline, and spongy material making up the ground's surface. The occasional squirrel, lizard, and butterfly too. As an adult simply looking for a place to relax while waiting for my car at an auto shop nearby, I was pleasantly surprised to find this park accommodating. Dirt and concrete trails weaving through the garden, lovely vegetation in spring, and a good amount of picnic tables and benches scattered throughout. Also, a shady area with fake grass and seats made out of smoothed-out logs and tree trunks, as well as adirondack chairs where I was able to hang out and nap while I was there. It wasn't too crowded or crazy on a Friday morning, though it got busier as it neared noon time. In addition, the place offers a parking lot and clean restrooms for convenience.

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Parking lot sign

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Municipal Rose Garden - San Jose

Municipal Rose Garden - San Jose

4.7(724 reviews)
14.1 mi•Rose Garden

Such a beautiful place to visit. We parked on the street…read morenear the fountain entrance. The first thing that struck me was the beautiful fountain and how quiet it is here, in the background someone was playing and accordion " the atmosphere was so serene" There are park benches under shady trees also there are a bunch of benches around the fountain, behind the rose garden there is a big field of grass that you can sit on and have a picnic. The roses are so beautiful and many smell to the delight of your senses. Such a great place to stroll around, read, I have a cup of coffee, enjoy the wonderful smell sight of the roses and or have a picnic.

This was our first visit of San Jose. We have an amazing International Rose Garden in Sacramento…read more It's part of the capital park. Along with the roses it's filled with memorials. Our family has a couple there as memories of our love ones. Compared to the Municipal Rose Garden- San Jose, our rose garden is tiny. Soon as i read a review on yelp left by one for the many yelpers I follow, I knew I had to see it for myself The yelp review only has the cross streets, which makes it difficult to plug it into your gps. I googled the rose garden and only got the cross streets. I then plugged Municipal Rose Garden, San Jose, CA to my google maps it pulled it right up with the actual address: 1649 Naglee Ave, San Jose, CA 95126. This made me so much more comfortable being able to find it without having to drive around. Google took us right there to the front gate. There are actually 3 main gates to get to the garden and it backs against a green belt so you can park anywhere along there and ease your way in. Parking is all street parking in a suburban neighborhood. Most of the homes have roses in their front gardens. Lots of them have roses lining their driveways. There are 2 public restrooms that were actually open on a Sunday in September. We were there Labor Day Weekend 2026. The men's and women's restrooms are not next to each other. They are by opposite gates. The bathrooms are your typical park bathrooms. Not the cleanest, made of cement and metal toilets. They have doors on the stalls that lock and they had plenty of TP. They have this odd metal gadget that dispensed soap if you push on the lever. I was happily surprised that the bathroom had soap as most park bathrooms lack soap. I was happy they had a cleanish bathroom. This park is the perfect place to take romantic pictures. If you are a professional photographer you need a permit and I belive it costs $100 for that permit. There is a sign in the park with a phone number for professional photographers to call, so there is no surprise for them. Talking pictures, there are many arches that are perfect for standing under and having a friend taking your picture. It looks so much better if you have someone take your picture as then you can see the whole arch. I should have asked someone to take our picture instead of just taking the selfie. We did get some great pictures. Some were not so good as the sun was in our eyes and we were squinting really bad. We took our time exploring the roses and really enjoyed ourselves. One thing I didn't notice was the iconic smell didn't vape though the rose garden. That is where the Sacramento Rose Garden excels in. They have many aromatic roses that wafts through the garden. The nice thing about this garden being so large is you can take pictures without having people in your shots as there is so much room to move around in. In addition to roses, there are also redwoods cluster in the garden. It almost felt like you are in a redwood forest if you stand in the middle of the grove. The Municipal Rose Garden was worth the stop. I'm so glad we made the time to stop by and allowed time to just wander and explore the many varieties of roses. One thing they didn't have were signs so you know what each breed of roses you are looking at, the Sacramento Rose Garden has signs so that is another difference. While we were there a park ranger and a volunteer were busy pruning the rose bushes.

Photos
Municipal Rose Garden - San Jose - Family Portraits | By 1985Luke Photography

Family Portraits | By 1985Luke Photography

Municipal Rose Garden - San Jose
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Groesbeck Hill Park - View of basketball court from the hill

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4.2(38 reviews)
11.1 mi•Quimby

This park is as the name suggests, a hill. There is a trail that goes around the base of the hill…read moreand some man made trails that go up the hill. It isn't too steep to climb and you will get a decent workout if you go around/up it a few times. The views at the top of the hill are beautiful! There are also tennis courts, a skate park, a basketball court, a sand volleyball section, and a children's playground all around the park. There's something for everyone! Lots of people bring their dogs for walks here too.

This park holds a lot of childhood memories for me. I had a professional photoshoot here for a…read morevery special moment in my life a few years back and still admire the shots because of the intimacy this park brought to that moment. It's not a park to have a hardcore hike but one could definitely get a good 'walk' in as the trails are easy and the crowd is generally comprised of locals from the neighborhood. I have successfully completed a 5 mile "hike" multiple times here -- just had to keep walking up and down, and all around. The park also has workout stations -- although, many of them are closed right now due to COVID19 but an average person could get a good cardio workout and get in some strength based exercises here (pull-up bars, etc.). Parking is easy as this park is aligned with a huge residential area. P.S. there are no public restrooms with the exception of seasonal porta potties so you should probably go before you plan on visiting. P.S.S. this park is popular for youngsters to "be youngsters" after hours so be cognizant if you're trying to plan a romantic date.

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Calero County Park - parks - Updated October 2026

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