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Henry W Coe State Park

4.2 (127 reviews)
Open Open 24 hours

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I caught Bass
Connie W.

Henry Coe State park is the largest Cal State Park, it is huge, 87,000 acres. Much of the land is restricted to foot access so distance is limited. However, one weekend per year in the Spring, Henry Coe opens their Bell Station South gate entrance along Highway 152 to allow registered people to visit the East side of this big park. The event is called Coe Backcountry Weekend, sponsored by the Pine Ridge Association. It's great to be able to travel close to home to camp in such vast wilderness. Here are my highlights from this weekend. Fishing and caught plenty of Bass at Mississippi and Kingbird pond. Saw super blooms of wildflowers due to abundance and a long raining season. Drove off road in our little legendary Suzuki Samurai. I was in 1st and 2nd gear the whole time while in the park. Camped next to Pacheco Creek, lulled to sleep at night frog songs. The big downside was the mosquitoes at dusk.

Hunting Hollow entrance
Ann L.

We hiked Sat 2/27/21 Hunting Hollow entrance. Parking fee $6, $5 for senior 62+, self pay. Bring exact cash for the envelope. Parking in large dirt parking lot, 3 pit toilets available. We hiked to Willson Peak, 2651 ft, strenuous hike, lots of Steep hills. Then we continued to Willson Camp and looked for Springs. Springs are mostly in Rubbermade tubs but that's ok. There's a cool Windmill and springs by it, the windmill works with strong winds. I even made a video. Worth going at least once. We hiked 10.5 miles, took all day. Can be lots of mountain bikers here. No dogs allowed.

Lyman Willson Trail
Walter D.

This State park has 87,000 acres with hundreds of miles of fire roads and trails to explore. The park is vast, rustic, rugged and usually steep. Hardy souls will enjoy getting away from it all, and hiking or mountain biking here. There are over 150 (possible) water sources and springs inside this park ( see https://coepark.net/map/water.php ). It can get over 100 degrees in the summer. The highest I have seen on the weather stations ( https://coepark.net/ws ) was 115 or so. The best time to visit is anytime other than the summer months. For more information about the park see https://coepark.net

Donnelly trail
Brett S.

Huge and fun, great trails for mountain biking...flowy and fun! 6 dollars to day park. It is dry and hot and exposed, so if there in summer, bring water!

Sara G.

Henry Coe is one of my favorite California State Parks! It is so vast and I love how remote it feels. There are great views to be seen everywhere. Parking is $8 and you pay at the Park Headquarters building after you park. The park rangers were very helpful in determining what trails we should try out based on our skill level and mileage we were looking to complete. There are lots of trails to explore from easy to more strenuous. My boyfriend and I did a lovely 5 mile loop here starting from the Corral Trail, to Flat Frog Trail, up to the Little Fork Coyote Creek. To get back to park headquarters, we took Hobb's Road all the way back. The Hobb's Road is no joke. At least a mile of the trail is a steep uphill trek. It was defiantly an awesome workout!! Next time, we will get all the way up to Frog Lake. If you come from the Bay Area, you would get off at Dunne Ave on 101 and then drive around 10 miles of windy narrow roads. There is a small section that is one way only where you have to stop and let other cars go in the other direction first. That part almost reminded me of the Road to Hana on Maui lol. This is probably one of the reasons that there isn't a lot of foot traffic through the park because it is quite the drive to get up there. I would also bring bug spray with you. The bugs at Henry Coe defiantly love to bother people! And be sure to bring tons of water as Henry Coe is really hot and dry in the spring and summer months. I cannot wait to come back and explore more!

Manzanita Trail
Michelle N.

Henry Coe State Park - a huge state park with dozens of trails to explore. I enter through the main park entrance/visitor center off E. Dunne Avenue in Morgan Hill. Parking is $8, although there are some spots you can park at outside the entrance too. Previously, I've hiked to Frog Lake, which was a easy, relatively short hike. Today, I attempted to hike down to China Hole (at the suggestion of the park ranger) - a refreshing swim hole sounded tantalizing in this heat. The total distance (round trip) was 10 miles, starting from the visitor's center. The way down wasn't bad, but unfortunately, when we followed the trail, we didn't see a swim hole, just a small creek and a trail with an almost straight vertical incline. So we turned around and followed the trail we came from. WARNING: Henry Coe is super hot in the summer. Heat exhaustion and dehydration will definitely happen if you don't come prepared. Alas, my friend and I were not. She didn't bring enough water and the heat almost defeated her. We attempted to ask a group of boy scouts to give us a lift back to the visitor center (2ish miles) but they declined but gave us water instead. The rangers couldn't pick us up either since they were on the other side of the park, 1.5 hours away. We slowly trudged our way back towards the visitor's center and we somehow made it. I was mostly relieved my friend didn't pass out and I'd have to drag her carcass back. The views of the valley were really nice and there was a variety of terrain, from wooded/shady trails to flat, dry ones. Not many people visit Henry Coe so it'll never be crowded and I find it rare to cross paths with another hiker since the park is so vast. All in all, if you're hiking Henry Coe in the summer, make sure you bring LOTS OF WATER. SO MUCH WATER. ALL THE WATER. You'll need it. Happy exploring friends.

Campsite 3 is so very dry, dusty, & lacks privacy but, the good thing is, it's next to the bathroom & H2O spicket.
Shirley M. F.

Oh, I just love it when I'm the only camper at a State Park Campground!!! I had the ENTIRE campground to myself!! How awesome is THAT???!!! I liked the fact that the cellphone tower was so close by: Having the cellphone tower close by allowed using my cellphone with FULL BARS; unlike other campgrounds I have visited, I would be privileged obtaining one bar~HAH! The drawbacks about camping at this State Park are the following: Driving over ten miles on a windy road: The sheer remoteness left me awestruck photographing panoramic views. Dusty, bone-dry campsites Little to virtually NO shade No privacy No showers Overall, in order enjoying camping here for a couple of days, please make sure you bring a solar shower and shower tent; solar power battery pack and solar panels; 10 x 10 canopy, screen tent. FYI: Bring your H2O filter because I don't know if the ground H2O is clean or not.

Choices
Mel D.

I really enjoyed this park and the beautiful nature setting. You can choose to do a short trail or a long distance trail. There are a couple of benches to sit and have a snack on.

Foggy and cold Wilson's Peak!!
Tomomi S.

This was one of the most challenging and "cold" hike that I've done in San Jose area. Drove through the Gilroy outlet (girls, fight the urge to go shopping at this point. Close your eyes and step on the gas!), left on New Ave. and right on Roop Rd. and just keep going... you'll come across to a large parking lot for Hunting Hollow on the right. My fiance and I weren't sure which trail we were taking that morning, but as we start walking I saw a sign for "Wilson's Peak"... for some reasons it sounded interesting for me on this chilly, gray and foggy Sunday morning. So off we went, up and up.... we literary didn't see anything around us... instead all we saw was this thick ,side way wind/fog blowing through us, some green soft grasses and wild flowers. Every peak we came to, I'd ask to my fiance "is this it? Is THIS the peak?" and he'd point to another peak behind the hill. AGH!!! I was so pissed off but all I can do is to chewed on my energy bar and keep going. We continued that for several time and finally, we came to the Wilson's peak (elevation 2600 ft) - a total of 1800 ft climb from where we started!!!! Jeez! Thanks for a nice "easy" Sunday hike, honey! If it was a beautiful sunny day I bet we could have enjoyed a beautiful view of the valley and wilderness. Oh, one note for hikers/bikers... there are awfully a lot of wild "poops" on the trail - we came across with some elephant sized poo, which could be a hazard for a high speed downhill bikers :) Just a warning!

Kaori M.

This park is huge. Actually it is the largest state park in Northern California. It is nice to have this park near the South Bay. I did overnight backpacking here in the first weekend of Feb. Started at Headquaters-Manzanita Point-China Hole-Narrows-Los Cruzeros-Willow Ridge-Mississippi Lake. There are three campsite along the lake. There are just a picnic table and a trash box. First-come first-served. However, threre are not many backpackers in this par, probably it is fine. One way is 14 miles. I enjoyed a variety of scenery. Green undurating hills, dry bald hills, Narrows, ranch. It was in winter, little water in Narrows but after the rainy season, I heard it's like Narrows in Zion (well not as much as there). I will come back in spring to see flowers!

Caterpillar
Vijay N.

Play hooky and go hiking now! On a weekday, this park feels like a secluded wilderness, even without venturing into the back country. During over 15 miles of hiking last Monday, we ran into only three other groups of hikers! Currently, the water is flowing, the hillsides are green, and there is plenty of wildlife on display, from the seemingly endless wildflowers to hawks, turkeys, frogs, and many other animals. Recommended hike: HQ - Monument - Hobbs Road - Frog Lake - Flat Frog - Springs - Manzanita Point Road - China Hole (out and back) - Manzanita Point Road - Springs - Corral - HQ If you are driving from Silicon Valley, you'll hit almost no traffic en route to the park on a weekday. If you're keen to do a long day hike, I would recommend starting early (~ 9AM). Make sure to carry plenty of water, because even on a relatively cool day the sun and elevation change can really make you work up a sweat! After covering a lot of ground in the park, I would recommend starting at the visitor center and taking the Monument Trail and Hobbs Road to Frog Lake. You'll get some nice views of Morgan Hill on the way, and the frogs and tadpoles at the lake are very fun to watch and hear. Loop back via the Flat Frog Trail to Manzanita Point Road. Then take the Spring Trail, which will deliver you to the Manzanita Point group campsites. I would stop for lunch under the shade of one of the big oak trees at the picnic benches there; the scenery is peaceful and perfect. There are also two cisterns for refilling your water and a couple of pit toilets if you need them. After lunch, take the China Hole Trail down to the intersection of two streams; the elevation change is substantial, but the grade of the switchbacks doesn't feel at all steep. We had great views of the tree-lined valleys on our way down. By the time you reach China Hole, you will have done about 10 miles of hiking, so you'll definitely feel like a swim! When you're done, retrace your steps to Manzanita Point Road, and take the Springs and Corral Trails back to the visitor center.

Limiao Z.

A lot of nice trails, plenty of trees, nice frog lake and cute streams. Not too crowded, parking is adequate. We followed the below loop based on rangers recommendations ~4.5 miles: Monument trail - Ponderosa trail - Hobbs road - Frog lake - Flat Frog trail - Corral Trail - back to Coe Ranch Headquarters

Stephen R.

The main thing that won me over with this place is the big tank of potable water at the end of our 15 mile Mt Sizer loop hike, haha. The tank is near the intersection of Manzanita Point Rd and Corral Trail. This is about one mile from HQ, and about the point some of us ran out of water. FYI, used 4 liters for the hike and it was about 80 degrees that day. The hike is described in great detail here should it interest you, we took Dunne Rd to the park HQ and started there: https://trailhiker.wordpress.com/2013/11/07/henry-w-coe-state-park-mt-sizer-loop/ The loop we did is certainly not for those just getting into hiking. In fact some sites have described it as the most difficult loop in the bay area for it's 4000ft elevation gains, steep ascents/descents, and 15 mile distance. The trail intersections weren't always clearly marked in this park, and sometimes there was a trail marker where it wasn't needed, that is, where there wasn't even an intersection. The shortcut in the Mt Sizer loop is not as bad as they say, the only tough part being how overgrown it is there. This is quite a beautiful park and the Mt Sizer loop takes you through several different terrains: forest, dry overgrowth bushes, and grasslands. Poles recommended for this loop. Walking along the ridge from Mt Sizer offers amazing views of the surrounding area. You can see Lick Observatory quite clearly. We hiked on a Saturday and didn't see very many people at all, with the exception of a few bikes.

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4 years ago

Awesome hiking and biking. Beautiful drive up and once up you can do easy to difficult trails.

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5 years ago

Absolutely beautiful park! Camping, finishing, hiking and biking all top notch. It gets super hot in the summer so bring lots of water.

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Ask the Community - Henry W Coe State Park

Review Highlights - Henry W Coe State Park

I've hiked several times from trailheads at the southern entrance (Henry Coe has two entrances), but today (3.

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Morgan Hill Community Park

Morgan Hill Community Park

4.9(10 reviews)
7.5 mi

We came here for a kid's birthday party, and this park is so nice!…read more It's very spacious, lots of free parking, and lots of features. There is an extensive playground with different types of swings, merry-go-round things, a large playhouse thing, and several slides on a little hill on the playground. In the area with the slides they have turf material and there is a recycling box with cardboard so that kids can use it and also sled down the hill. They have different types of courts like for basketball, pickleball, tennis, baseball. There is lots of space to walk on the gravel path, and there is sort of a pond area (which appears to be less maintained). There are many picnic areas that are shaded too. I really liked that the area the birthday party was located had a gate so that kids wouldn't run out and away. The playground also had a gate on it too, which is great for childrens' safety and parents' ease of minds! We noticed the bathrooms are somewhat high tech with lights to activate the automatic doors and lights to indicate that the bathroom is occupied. I didn't go in, so I can't comment on cleanliness/upkeep. Wish this kind of park was more common. I would highly recommend this park!

The fact alone that this park has bathrooms makes it awesome…read more I have been coming to this park my entire life. It has definitely gotten some upgrades. New magical bridge playground opens this weekend. It's not even open yet and it looks beautiful so far :) It has a dog park, a trail, a basketball court, a tennis court, and a baseball field. I almost forgot, the ducks! It has a lake with ducks! I like walking the trail because there are plenty of trees which creates shade, so it's not just sunny. The bathrooms are located in between the tennis courts and the baseball field. Also, parking is free! Anyone can come with children, strollers, solo individuals, people with dogs, anyone. Everyone is in their own world, living their life with nature.

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Morgan Hill Community Park
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Anderson Lake County Park - This is a photo of my LCD screen on my camera "Black Phoebe

Anderson Lake County Park

3.7(55 reviews)
5.9 mi

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.

Lake it Easy This…read more±4,300sq ft county park is home to Santa Clara County's largest reservoir at a whopping ±1,300sq ft. (±7 miles long). The Good: *Visitor Center at 19425 Malaguerra Ave, Morgan Hill, CA *First come, first served picnic tables *hiking trails *Horses welcome *Dogs are welcome The Meh: *Only a few miles of trails are currently open *$6/day entrance fee The Ugly: *A large part of the park is currently closed due to seismic retrofit construction project and not expected to re-open until 2030--if we're lucky! *Access to the lake--including fishing--is currently prohibited due to the construction. Conclusion: Not really worth a visit until after the construction project is done.

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Anderson Lake County Park
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Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve - Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve

Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve

4.4(28 reviews)
10.5 mi

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.

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Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve - Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve

Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve

Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve - Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve

Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve

Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve - Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve

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Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve

Henry W Coe State Park - parks - Updated May 2026

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