Visiting my cousin's family in San Jose. Decided to come here as a first timer to refresh and…read morerecharge after my grandma's passing. Clear and fresh air, beautiful view, nice built trails. Got my steps in for the day. Really delightful.

This clean and accessible trail, located between and parallel to Alamitos Creek and Camden Avenue,…read morewas great for running this past Friday, a level paved pathway surrounded by scenery and nature (plenty of trees and black squirrels), a peaceful atmosphere with a few benches along the way, that's pretty much all I need. The parking lot at Pfeiffer Park was convenient.

Gorgeous! My friends and I went during some lights rain and didn't regret it at all…read more It was still super gorgeous. I guess it was considered a moderately difficult hike but for me it seemed fine because it was pretty short. 10/10

Another one of my favorite spots to go a nice walk! It is hard to distinguish where the St Joseph's…read moreOpen Preserve ends and this starts. It does not matter really. Just go and enjoy!

Great hike on a heatwave kind of day. We went on a weekday, so parking wasn't a problem for the…read moreapprox. 8 mile hike (out and back). Most of the trail is shaded and although the elevation is over 1,000 feet, there weren't any steep sections. There is a restroom at the parking lot, but not one at the top. No water at the top either so plan ahead and bring water! Wildflowers are starting to bloom, which is always a wonderful addition to spring-time hikes. In addition to the view, I appreciated all of the historical signage at the top.

Growing up in Almaden since I was a little kid, everyone always see and can recognize that little…read morebuilding/block on the top of the mountain. You always know how to find home just by looking at Mt. Umunhum. Once I got older, they opened it up at a tourist site where you can drive up, walk around and visit it! Been coming up here since high school and it never disappoints! Driving up, it's a windy 30 min drive for me and you get scenic views the whole way up. There are hiking trails on the way up too and bikers. Upon arrival there is a huge parking lot and stairs to get up to the main area. Enjoy the views at the lookout spot with history on the walls of what the purpose of this block/building was in the past. It was the Almaden Air Force Base! Highly recommend visiting and if its raining in the valley, it might be snowing up here. Came here when I was in highschool to experience it haha.

Living in Morgan Hill my whole life, Coyote Creek Trail has always been a staple. It's such a…read morepeaceful and quiet place to get some fresh air, go for a walk, or ride bikes. I love the open views, trees, and hills surrounding the trail. It's one of those simple places that's always nice to come back to when you just want to get outside and enjoy some peace and quiet.

Visited on Sunday around noon when the temperature was in the 80s. The parking lot is fairly small,…read morebut there is a restroom available. At the beginning of the trail, we had to choose between the north and south routes. We decided to head south after seeing more trees and shaded paths. The trail is easy and more than half of the route is shaded, which was nice, but the section along Highway 101 was quite noisy and took away from the peacefulness of the walk. We walked about 1.8 miles to Silicon Valley Blvd and then turned around and returned the same way. With the hot weather, the trail wasn't as enjoyable as I hoped. I may come back another time to try the north trail and see if I like that route better.

I was here late in the afternoon and had a wonderful visit. Initially, I was incredulous that this…read moreis even called a park given that there's nothing here but once you make it to the top of the hill and get on the trail, it's beautiful. I did not see one other person on the visit and had a very serene run with great views of the Bay Area.

"After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb."--Nelson…read moreMandela Foothill Park (FP) is a rather unusual park located at the base of the Santa Teresa Foothills. It's essentially a trail (actually SCVWD access road) that follows the Coyote-Alamitos Canal (CAC)--which protects against hill runoff, and conveys water between Coyote Creek and Los Alamitos Creek. FP might be known more for what it doesn't have, than what it *does* have. What it does have are great views of Santa Teresa/Blossom Valley, and a fun adventure if you have young kids; if those two things intrigue you, then read on. The official beginning of the park begins at the south end of Cahalan Ave at Foothill Dr. There you'll have to hike up a decomposed granite trail for ±150' elevation gain on a series of switchbacks until you get to the top. Then you will be faced with a perilous decision: left or right? Left (Southeast): This is the less interesting direction; it just essentially follows the CAC as it parallels Colleen Dr until you reach the end of the line at Snell Ave. Right (Northwest): This the more compelling of the two options, as it provides an interesting shortcut to Almaden Lake Park. It starts out much the same way as the left side, following the CAC and paralleling Foothill Dr until you reach the official "end" of the trail about one mile in. However, if you're feeling adventurous, near the end is an unofficial, well-used dirt bike trail, that will take you up another small foothill (with even better views!) and towards Almaden Lake. I believe the master plan is to eventually have the trail officially take you there, but until funding is available it's nice to know it's still a viable option. Parking- Plenty of street parking is available on Cahalan Ave and Foothill Dr. Amenities- No restrooms, no playground, no nothing--this is a no frills park that's just dirt, trails, trees and rocks. Although, there was one lone picnic table and garbage can halfway up the hill, but that's about it. Ordinarily, I don't give parks with such few amenities anything above 2-stars, but there's something about FP that's alluring to me. It's peculiar, and peculiar is welcome in my book. Plus, it's a great place to take your kids hiking, and that's always a good thing. Now grab your hiking stick, some granola and come check it out!

This is a nice little neighborhood park tucked between a residential area and commercial buildings…read more It has a minimal playground area and some other spaces for sitting. There isn't a reason to make this a destination but if you're walking down Hillsdale Ave and want to take a break this is a nice place to stop and enjoy some trees.

This is another beast of a trail. The Guadalupe Creek Trail is a paved (the vast majority) North to…read moreSouth bike path that runs from Alviso all the way into downtown San Jose. The 9 mile trail starts near the Alviso Marina County Park with a gravel trail, it them moves into a striped bike path. As the trail name indicates it does track the Guadalupe Creek. It drops under Hwy 237 and continues on the left bank. I did do some exploring of the opposite bank, but its mostly packed gravel and the trail on that side dead ends at Hwy 101. (It does allow you a great view of the fuel storage for aircraft at nearby San Jose International. Its a very fast trail and you can get moving. However, its also a pedestrian trail so care should be exercised. The trail continues South under Hwy 101 and you soon find yourself running past San Jose International. AT the airport location you cross over to the right hand bank. Once past San Jose International, you cross under Hwy 880 and it does start getting a bit sketchy in spots, but most people were friendly. The trail continues till it gets to Jullian Street where you have to cross not only the street but back to the left hand side of the creek . You can continue on the other side for another 0.3 miles and the trail ends basically near the SAP Center in San Jose. There is little in the way of immediate services for most of the trail till you get to San Jose. If you exit off the trail you can find something but it may take a bit. Also some fo the underpasses are quite close to the water level and are prone to flooding. There was alot of dried mud pointing to that. It also has less flora and fauna than one might expect. The path is often well elevated from the creek (its really more of a river IMHO but who am I to argue with hydrologists) and most of the time you are moving fast anyway. However, there are the usual suspect if you stop and look. Its also interesting to note that the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct diversion tunnels #3 and #4 cross under the trail on their way to Crystal Springs. I did explore a 2 mile stretch of the gravel side from Hwy 101 to a bridge that crossed. It was pretty unremarkable, and somewhat boring. On one side you have residential and industrial stuff and the other alot of encampments. Plus there is no trail on that side under 101 and looking from the other side there really was nowhere to go anyway. You do get a cool view of the aviation fuel dump for San Jose International, but that kind of stuff is the domain of the truly hard core aviation geek. The gravel trail does run the length from 101 back to Alviso Trail: Paved (Small gravel section in the beginning) Suitable For: Hiking, Mountain Bikes, Hybrid, and Road Bikes Services: Varied and not on trail Length: 9 miles

The Guadalupe Creek Trail (GCT) is a ±1.75-mile trail located at the North end of Almaden Valley…read more The trail begins across the street from Almaden Lake on the opposite side of Almaden Expwy, and actually has two trailheads (one by Chris Hotts Park and one closer to Coleman Rd) that eventually converge, about a few hundred feet into the trail. The trail parallels the north edge of Guadalupe Creek and continues in a southwesterly direction before ending on Singletree Wy, by the massive PG&E Substation. Overall, it's a pretty unimpressive trail that has some decent views, but ultimately it's just too short--for now. Here's a quick rundown: Access points: -Almaden Expwy/Chris Hotts Park -Meridian Ave -Singletree Wy Trail Difficulty: Very easy to navigate trail that's really wide, and very flat. My biggest complaint is that none of it is paved and is that funky aggregate base rock that makes a lot of dust and gets rocks in your shoes when you try and run on it. Views: The beginning of the trail takes you by the 10 Los Capitancillos Groundwater Recharge Ponds, that are sitting mostly empty these days thanks to the drought. The rest of the way you'll have the creek to the south and neighbor's fences to the north, until you reach the final half-mile where you'll be on a SCVWD maintenance road and surrounded by giant transmission towers. They have a pretty awesome ±$10M Master Plan for the GCT that includes extending it far south along Hicks Rd, and all the way up to Almaden Quicksilver County Park--and they even have designs on a pedestrian bridge to get you safely across Almaden Expwy and connect to the Upper Guadalupe River Trail; which can take you to Almaden Lake, and eventually as far north as Alviso. However, it's just a plan at this stage and I have no idea when, or if, it'll ever happen. In the meantime, it is what it is.

This was a great trail for my run on a Monday evening. The parking lot on Monroe Street near San…read moreTomas Expressway allows for convenience. And I'm glad I was able to check out this part of the trail, as I'm usually near Alviso (keep in mind that part of the trail, near Great America and Levi's Stadium, is closed on stadium event days). This trail was ideal for me because I normally don't want a big challenge, and the terrain here is pretty much flat the whole way except for brief dips at each underpass. I like how simple this trail is, but what really caught my attention was the beautiful plant life and artwork charming pedestrians and cyclists along the pathway, especially for those who take the time to appreciate it. Near the Monroe parking lot, if you start your way down the trail toward Alviso, you'll find a wall of colorful flowers and greenery, brief but lovely, especially on a pleasant day in July. Further down, another portion of the trail features lovely artwork by designer Linda Patterson, who researched the surrounding wildlife to create, as she describes, a "story wall interpreting the natural environment". Her 15 site-cast concrete sculpted murals exhibit various species in the natural world, including trees, grasslands, birds, turtles, even rabbits! It's definitely unique and is just one of the many reasons I'll be returning to this trail more often.

The San Tomas Aquino Creek Trail is a wonderful surprise! We are used to traversing the Bay Trail,…read moreStevens Creek Trail and other trails (favorable for biking) in the Bay Area. The San Tomas Aquino Creek Trail intersects with the Bay Trail. Recently, we decided to bike from Palo Alto to Levi's Stadium. So, we began on the Bay Trail. We passed our usual haunts (e.g., Baylands Nature Preserve, Shoreline Lake, NASA Ames Research Center, etc.). We pressed onward until we reached Hwy 237. Here, we eventually intersected with the San Tomas Aquino Trail. Like the Stevens Creek Trail, the San Tomas Aquino Creek Trail is filled with wonderfully surprising sites and sounds. It feels much more remote than most "urban" trails (especially those located in large population centers). Moreover, it's a clean and friendly place. It takes you right up to Levi's Stadium. It has an entry ramp next to the stadium that takes you between the parking lot and stadium itself. On days when both Levi's Stadium and California's Great America are closed, you can also wander around the parking lots -- right up to the entrances of both the stadium and amusement park. Best of all, you can continue your journey through Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and even San Jose. You'll pass along some major tech offices too -- such as Nvidia's new campus. Overall, it's a fantastic way to journey through the Silicon Valley and South Bay! When I go to games as Levi's Stadium, I usually take the Light Rail. Next season, I might just take my bike to an afternoon game. It would be a fantastic and serene experience to enjoy both before and after the game.