This was a return visit to Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve. Last time, I made a 7-mile loop; this time I took it a little easy because I had my 2-month old with me!
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Picchetti Ranch Preserve is an MROSD Open Space near the town of Cupertino. It abuts Stevens Creek County Park and Freemont Older Open Space preserve and it boasts Picchetti Winery (it is the only park in the MROSD to have its own winery). The winery is a great place to picnic; there are lots of picnic tables in a grassy open area that gets some shade. This is a lovely place to bring the whole family so that some can drink and eat while others hike.
This was a spring return visit to Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve. The last time that I visited, my GPS routed me to the wrong entrance point of the park; this time my husband and I did manage to find the correct entrance, where there is ample parking for this extremely popular park (Take the Foothill Boulevard exit from I-280 and proceed south on Foothill Boulevard approximately 0.2-mile to Cristo Rey Drive, then follow the signs).
We went on one of the first fine weekend days in spring, and there was a pretty big rush of people there; however, it was mostly families with young children who were walking to the historic Deer Hollow Farm to see the newborn goat kids. It was very sweet to see both the cute goat kids and the adorable human kids having so much fun. So while it was not a hike filled with natural wonder and solitude, it was still a very enjoyable hike to celebrate the arrival of spring! This is a great, flat hike for families with young children, but adult hikers can also push beyond the crowd at Deer Hollow Farm to explore deeper into the park.
I stitched together three different loops at Los Trancos Open Space Preserve in order to make a 4.4 mile hike. I was rewarded with a stunning vista of the entire San Francisco Bay, a beautiful waterfall, lots of sweet little white wildflowers, a few critters, and some new knowledge about the famous San Andreas Fault, which intersects the park!
Monte Bello Open Space Preserve is a wonderful park off of Skyline Drive. This was a repeat visit to the park, which gave me a chance to compare it to two past visits, one in winter and one in spring. These are views from the bench at the Stevens Creek Nature Trail trailhead near the parking lot off of Page Mill Road. This is one of my favorite places in all of California. I dream of bringing my mom back here so that she can paint (like she did during our art expedition to the Redwood National and State Parks). Hope that this happens one day!
This 6-mile hike was a new trail for me at Long Ridge Open Space Preserve. The last time I came to Long Ridge, I made a loop into Upper Stevens Creek County Park. This trip, I explored a part of the park that borders Portola Redwoods State Park. I hope to one day make the trek from Portola through Long Ridge so that I can explore the site of the historic Page Mill! The hike that I did most recently was a really nice one that offered some shade through a mixed forest of oak, madrone, and bay laurel. The eponymous ridge offers some amazing views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, but with that comes intense exposure to sun. The shaded woods were a welcome respite from the sun.
Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve is a very nice park in Los Altos. My GPS stupidly routed me to a non-standard entrance to the park, and I misread the parking signs (I thought there was no parking overnight, but it's actually that there is no parking during the day). So I would not really recommend the exact trail that I took--you don't want to annoy the residents who live near the park by parking illegally. But I would recommend a variation of the trail that I took, particularly along Wildcat Canyon, which is shaded by lovely bay laurel trees, which make the air smell spicy and sweet.
This was a return visit to Monte Bello Open Space Preserve, which I visited last in January. I took a 6-mile variation of the same hike, although I by-passed the Stevens Creek Nature Trail in order to cut out some of the down hill portion of the hike. It was the same distance, but taking the Canyon Trail all the way back was a little easier on my knees. Spring is an excellent time to visit Monte Bello because the wildflowers are spectacular! I also loved seeing the hills with the lush, green grass. It won't be long until the grass turns to the golden brown that we get in the summer.
I have written about the La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve before. I went back in the late winter/early spring to see the hills when they were still green, and it was spectacular. This time, the MSROD sent me a trail map with my permit to enter the park. See the map after the jump, including the details of my 2.6 mile hike.
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