Back Valley Located…read morebetween San José and Morgan Hill is a gorgeous ±348-acre park that offers a no-frills hiking experience and superlative views of The Valley. This is one of OSP's smallest parks, but what it lacks in size it more than makes up for in quality. The Good: * Free to visit! * Mountain biking on certain trails (check map & signage) * Horseback riding on certain trails (check map & signage) * Restrooms in the parking lot * Picnic tables along the trails * The Arrowhead Trail Loop (±4 miles) is fairly easy, but does have a few decent uphills. However, we did it with three young children of varying ages, so it really wasn't an issue. * Great place for wildflower viewing--especially one year we barely had to leave the parking lot to be ensconced in Poppies! The Meh: * No dogs allowed * No trash cans, so pack it in and pack it out The Ugly: * The parking lot seems to have doubled since the last time we were here, which is a good thing because it used to fill up fast. It is still fairly small and only holds 27 cars--assuming no horse trailers are parked. There is also NO parking on Palm Ave. Conclusion: Small but mighty!

I hiked Sat 4/17/21 at Coyote Valley OSP, Morgan Hill. It's a 40min drive from North Fremont, Free…read moreparking, but on Saturdays have to be there before 8am. Park opens 7am-Sunset. Only 1 unisex vault toilet, it had tp and hand sanitizer. We did the 4mile loop hike: Heart's Delight Trail and Arrowhead Loop Trai, it's a One-Way trail due to Covid19. Gentle hills so there is climbing, they call it challenging, but it's really just moderate. Some views. Nice short hike in Morgan Hill.

Beautiful views and great trials and wonderful running water with alot of greenery good parkingread more

Is it beautiful? Well, Chris Martin would like it because it was all yellow…read more There's quite a few places to start (Stonegate Park, Hellyer Park, Metcalf parking lot), but Google "Coyote Creek Visitor Center at Anderson Lake" if you want to start at the trail's most southern point. If you want photos of that intelligent but impish silver fox, Google "Coyote Creek Visitor Center at Anderson Cooper" My experience that follows is based on starting from the south, but check my photos for updates. The Visitor Center has a huge parking lot (virtually empty at 2pm a hot September Saturday) that will leave everything it touches with a fine white dust. Your shoes and bike, and subsequently your floor mats, will look like they partied with John Belushi. We made the mistake of riding out of the lot toward the creek, following a rocky dirt road for over half a mile. (See Photo). Until we intercepted the actual trail, I was angrily writing the Yelp review in my head in the voice of Inigo Montoya: "Paved? I do not think that word means what you think it means." (To avoid this, begin the trail on Eagle View Drive that borders the parking lot opposite the creek.) With the honey-colored grass dotted with murky green oaks, standing in stunning contrast to the gold, the landscape reminded me of Napa Valley, but instead of wine, dog poop. I'm not saying there was a lot of dog poop, but there's more poop than shade. The smooth, paved two-way trail is 22.1 miles long and has long stretches of seemingly straight paths but it's never static, thanks to a few sharp turns, blind curves, interruptions for utility roads, and various sites. In the 8.4 miles we rode north from the Visitor Center toward San Jose to Coyote Ranch, we would sometimes veer west where you'd feel like you're in the country. With the rolling green hills in the background, and intermittent low hanging trees among the super dry patches of grass, the landscape reminded my wife of Southern Oregon, but instead of award-winning breweries: dog poop. I'm not saying there was a lot of dog poop, but there were more poop to mistake for a family of motionless brown beetles than actual families. But for every turn toward the hills, there was a turn back east toward the 101 to remind you that you're in a city (the 17th most expensive housing market in the US, to be exact) - the 101 is sometimes 4000 feet in the distance, sometimes within 500 feet, and even under it. One shady underpass made for a secret and sheltered shallow spot for kids to swim. Well, at least it WAS secret. Yes, along the way, you'll see the 63-mile long Coyote Creek, a river that parallel a fault, running from Diablo Mtns east of Morgan Hill to Anderson Lake through Coyote Valley and San Jose that empties into the bay at Alviso. The creek is most often shielded by a row of trees: at some points it's a dry bed, at one point a water supply for a pair of deer, or you cross over it on a cool wooden bridge or two, or a reservoir, a designated fishing point, and if we ever get rain again, the trail could dip into the water itself like feels like the Universal Studios tram ride, but instead of staged interaction with a holographic cast of Fast & Furious: dog poop, which is basically the same thing. It seems barren, but there are a few surprises. Besides numerous structures that either look like, depending on your level of cynicism: a) a treasure to an amateur photographer who makes you look at his pictures of random concrete tubes, old barns, and barely habitable shacks or b) a place where you'd find Lovely Bones. Also, a few pieces of graffiti (the only waterfowl I saw in the area was a spray-painted duck), some tree trunks that look like tractor engines. For some reason you'll pass fences that separate that patch of dry yellow grass from this patch of yellow grass. Landmarks include: the Santa Clara Model Aircraft Skypark. Signs actually instruct you to keep moving and duck! Maybe that's what the spray-painted duck was for. Plus, Ogier Ponds, Coyote Creek Golf Club, and the Gene Simpson Memorial Dog Training Area. Crap, I didn't know he died. I love KISS! We stopped at Coyote Ranch, which is (allegedly) "perfect for weddings". If you hate your bride. Had we gone one more mile, we would have made it to the Metcalf parking area after passing the "Tamienne Monument", an easy-to-overlook, extremely non-monumental plaque, which is said to be the geographical center of the Santa Clara Valley and not my co-worker Teresa who often thinks she is. Visitor Center to Metcalf is 9.4 miles, I haven't gone north of Metcalf yet but the trail passes through a chain of city/county park, dipping under the 101/85 interchange, and through San Jose six miles to Cottonwood Lake. You can go an extra 3.3 miles to Tully Library (where it seems to end), but your money shot is likely Hellyer County Park, so named because, "Hell, yer probably meet some of the dogs that pooped on the trail at the dog park.

Took the scenic route today and came across the Uvas Reservoir. The water line was low however it's…read morea nice place to fish, picnic, or go for a hike. It was very calming and relaxing to be among the trees. I saw lots of bicyclists ‍ riding down the hill, taking in the breeze.

We stumbled upon this park after having to turn around from Uvas Canyon County Reserve for not…read moreknowing to reserve a spot ahead of time. The hike was about less than 30m around the reservoir; it was beautiful, and we got to see plenty of wild flowers and cherry blossom. There are plenty of parking spaces and some picnic benches. Pics were from Feb, so I'm not sure you still can see the wild flowers now. Overall, it's a very pleasant hike.

Henry Coe has been in my "to hike" list for quite a while. It's the largest in the State Parks…read moresystem and while, technically, in the South Bay, requires a long, windy drive once you're off the 101. It can seem overwhelming to pick a day hike, given the vastness of the park, so I'd recommend coepark.net. That site lists several day hikes and shares route maps. It was a huge help to me, when deciding to hike the trail to Frog Lake. Henry Coe is popular for backpacking but moderate day hikes can be found and the loop to Frog Lake and back was a wonderland of green hills, tiny wildflowers and vast views of the Diablo Range. It's more about the journey than the destination and I enjoyed hiking through various eco systems that included marsh-like trails, rolling green hills, woodland and a small lake. Parking is self-paid or via the CA State Parks pass. There's a nice visitor center with rangers helping to acclimate you to the park, along with flush toilets and a small gift shop. You feel like you're in the foothills, while really, just a 30 minute drive from Morgan Hill. Now that I've acclimated a bit to the park and its hikes, I'm finally going to add Henry Coe to my State Parks rotation

Best hiking in the Bay Area PERIOD. Amazing rangers that help you plan out your hike, and mostly…read morewell maintained trails(although some smaller ones can be overgrown). Starting with small hikes is best as the elevation gain and drops are pretty intense.

So easy to get distracted these days by things that don't matter, or matter a lot but are then…read moretwisted by people that don't matter into tools for deception and sheep herding. Fall down this rabbit hole to your great detriment. For those that have fallen and are in the rabbit hole, fear not. The rabbit hole only feels durable. As a matter of fact, it isn't. It's paper. You can tear a hole in it and be free. El Toro Mountain will tear a hole in your rabbit hole wall. Wake up early because in afternoon summertime Morgan Hill has a temperature equivalent of a stage in the inferno below. But in the morning it's generally cool and still and there aren't a ton of humans out and you can get up and down this mountain in like an hour if you hustle and an hour of exertion in this space with the view at the top and birds and dust and voila, no more rabbit hole. On the way up the steep bit all you're thinking about is damn this is steep and not much else. At the top after good exertion you're rewarded by a view, maybe a fellow traveler, and the realization that this is what matters, not what they're trying to do to us. If I lived in The Hill I'd be up this mountain once a week come rain or come shine. In rain I bet it's a messy affair. There are two ways up. I've so far only sampled one. Go to the West Hills Church on DeWitt. You can park down DeWitt from the church or on Spring Avenue. Walk onto the property with the church on your left then up the paved driveway to the school. Keep the school on your left and head for the back of its parking lot and there you'll find the trailhead. Which is dirt road for access to a water tank and the powerlines and it's gated and ppl say you aren't supposed to be going up there but ppl do and you should too. Probably don't go on school days and don't park in the school lot even if the gate is open bc somebody could close it while you're escaping the rabbit hole and you'd come back and be locked in and that would be a drag. Be it El Toro or Diablo or Mt. Umunhum or whatever is closest to your backyard - sample it on a regular basis. Keep yourself sane. Keep your heart strong. Do it for you and the folks that love you. You'll be a whole lot more fun to be around.

This is my favorite spot to stop for lunch on the coyote Creek trail. It has a great covered…read moreoutdoor area for eating. It's in deep shade, so it remains cool even in hot weather. It has five picnic tables under the shelter and all are in shade. It has a garbage can which is almost always not full, so it is obviously maintained regularly. It has nice water fountains for both humans and pets. The restrooms are awesome and clean! I would give this park five stars, but the lake is closed until 2032. Otherwise, it's still my favorite spot at the end of Coyote Creek trail.

Ok so supposedly it cost six dollars to get in to the parking lot. Um... the parking lot I went…read moreinto had nowhere to pay, none, zip,zippo, nadda "not that I'm complaining lol!! Looks like they are doing seismic retrofitting stuff so we couldn't walk over this cool bridge that was over the stream, lots of chain link fence and construction going on... sad face. Wifey and I were able to sit on a bench near the stream "which honestly was quite beautiful if you didn't look to far up" We sat there for about 2 hours watching the Black Phoebe's fly around catching bugs. Beyond that there doesn't seem to be much else going on in this parking lot site. There is another entrance, haven't been there as of yet, maybe that entrance will be better.

This is a small park near the Nob Hill Trail Park. There is a really nice picnic area, and it…read moreboasts the Peace bridge. It is a peaceful area with the mountains in the background.Some educational signs and a bronze statue of the California grey fox are there too.Nice photo opportunity when the weather is right.

REVIEW OF MIDDLE RIDGE TRAIL. The areas of Henry Coe Park nearest the headquarters (elevation…read more2,800 feet) include Flat Frog Trail, a valley with Coyote Creek (elevation 2,100 feet) running down the middle, Middle Ridge (elevation 2,900 feet), and another valley (elevation 1,640 feet). Beyond this other valley is Mt. Sizer and Blue Ridge Road (elevation 3,274 feet). Middle Ridge is flanked by these two valleys. This info from topo map available from hikingproject dot com. Our hike of March 7, 2021 took us from park headquarters, north along Flat Frog Trail, north along the short Frog Lake Trail, and towards the southeast on Middle Ridge Trail. Then, we took Fish Trail and descended into the valley with Coyote Creek, crossed the creek, and ascended the opposite side of the valley on Fish Trail. Coyote Creek can easily be crossed by stepping from stone to stone. Our starting and ending point was a trail marker located near park headquarters, where this trail marker has arrows pointing to Flat Frog Trail, to Fish Trail, and to Forest Trail. The length of this hiking loop, consisting of Flat Frog Trail, Frog Lake Trail, Middle Ridge Trail, and Fish Trail, was 6 1/2 miles. Most of Middle Ridge Trail is on a 100 foot wide, fairly flat meadow, situated at the very top of Middle Ridge. The meadow is peppered with many trees, and many areas are free of impenetrable tangles of bushes, vines, and weeds. Along the trail are many patches of Indian Warrior plants. Indian Warrior is related to Indian Paintbrush. Indian Warrior is a parasitic plant that thrives by attaching itself ot the roots of manzanita, including the bigberry manzanita found at Henry Coe State Park. PHOTOGRAPHS of MIDDLE RIDGE TRAIL, FISH TRAIL (return route), and COYOTE CREEK (needs to be crossed during return route). ( 1 ) Trail marker pointing to Middle Ridge Trail. The marker states that Middle Ridge Trail is 0.8 miles ahead. ( 2 ) Many large pine cones are found near Middle Ridge Trail. I placed it in a tree and took a photo of it. ( 3 ) Weirdly shaped dead tree and nearby Indian Warrior. The wood is entirely gray colored. ( 4 ) Bird's eye view of an Indian Warrior plant. ( 5 ) Field of about 50 Indian Warriors near Middle Ridge Trail. ( 6 ) Y-Shaped part of a dead tree. Each branch of the Y has a crevice that is long and narrow, where each crevice is surrounded by sinuous streaks of white-colored wood and light brown-colored wood. Obviously, this Y-shaped object is a space alien, and likely a distant relative of E.T. ( 7 ) Another weirdly-shaped dead tree near Middle Ridge Trail. ( 8 ) Typical view of Middle Ridge Trail, showing a well-worn dirt path surrounded by grassy areas that are flat and free of bushes. ( 9 ) Photo of trail marker on Middle Ridge Trail that identifies Fish Trail. You need to take Fish Trail in order to return to Park Headquarters. Fish Trail leads you down the slope of Middle Ridge and to Coyote Creek. Once you have crossed this creek, you will find another trail, and this is also called, Fish Trail. ( 10 ) Photograph of a gruesome-looking pumpkin growing on a manzanita. This is next to the descending part of Fish Trail. ( 11 ) Photo of a manzanita next to Fish Trail, where half of the tree-trunk is covered with orange bark, where the other half is gray-colored and is free of orange bark. The photo also shows part of the trail decorated with a pattern of shadows created by the sunrays passing through branches of nearby trees. ( 12 ) Hiker crossing Coyote Creek. ( 13 ) Photo showing Coyote Creek and of the ascending part of Fish Trail on the far side of Coyote Creek. ( 14 ) Mossy stones sitting in Coyote Creek. REFERENCES ( 1 ) Teddy Goodrich (2005) Names on the Land. A History of Henry W. Coe State Park. ( 2 ) Robert J. Keiffer (2012) Indian Warriors Welcome Spring at HREC. University of California Hopland Research and Extension Center. ( 3 ) Michele Driggs (2013) The Record Searchlight. Redding, CA. ( 4 ) Toni Corelli (Botanist, Curator Emeritus of the Carl Sharsmith Herbarium) Plants That Like Hosts.

Nice trail to combine with other trails if you are visiting the park. Beautiful, peaceful and…read moremoderately trafficked on a Saturday afternoon.