We entered from the very steep paved hill (behind Ladera). It'll test your stamina to go uphill…read more Once you made it, it has a nice view of Morgan Hill and with 2 slides. The first slide is shorter and the 2nd slide is more windy and longer. It's pretty fun to go down the slides and enjoy the view. You can follow the trail to hike down the other side. It's a great little hiking trail to explore the view and it's not crowded.

Cute little park hidden behind downtown Morgan hill. There are two points of entry - one with a…read moresteep dirt path, and the other a steep paved hill. On the top there are work out areas that you can use to do cricut workouts. There are also some fun slides to go down - one long and one short. If you go with kids, would recommend an adult to go down with them. One certain days you can see cows across the fence as well. Cute little hidden gem!

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

not bad! it's relaxing and has pretty scenery, though bring some water in case you get thirsty…read more there aren't many water fountains or restrooms until later.

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

Wonderful start park with various options for different levels of outdoor enthusiasts. If you are…read morelooking to camp and hike, you can make a reservation for either the camping site or the backpacking site. For the camping site, all you need to is drive up to your reserved camping spot, and start unpacking, then you have access to water, bathrooms and many hiking trails. The backpacking site will require to hike in and then set up all your gear. Be sure to do your research so that you're not stuck out there without water. This state park affords to the visitor extremely beautiful sunsets and sunrises at the campsite and nearby viewpoints. Astronomy hobbyists will also enjoy the evening scenery, where many astronomical phenomena are visible. As a precaution avoid the yellow grass as ticks do make these areas their habitat!

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.

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.

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.

FINDING FLAT FROG TRAIL. My first visit ever to Henry Coe State Park was on my birthday, March…read more7th. My goal was to take the 6 1/2 mile loop trail, consisting of: (1) Flat Frog Trail, (2) Frog Lake Trail (a short connecting trail), (3) Middle Ridge Trail, and (4) Fish Trail. The parking lot is situated at the edge of Dunne Avenue. A one minute walk further along Dunne Ave. brings you to Coe Ranch Headquarters. About 50 feet east of Coe Ranch Headquarters is Corral Trail. Corral Trail takes you to Springs Trail, and Springs Trail takes you to a trail marker. The trail marker is at the branching point of three trails, Flat Frog Trail (to your left), Fish Trail (in the middle), and Forest Trail (to you right). The photo of me, with a tall dead tree behind me, was taken near this trail marker. Once you reach Middle Ridge Trail, you will find many bright red Indian Warrior plants. These plants are parasitic, and they acquire nutrients from roots of the bigberry manzanita. The only steep areas on the entire loop trail (described above) are on the parts of Fish Trail that descend into the valley to Coyote Creek, or that ascend out of this valley. FLAT FROG TRAIL and FROG LAKE. Flat Frog Trail follows the contour of the land, the trail loops out where a hillock of earth protrudes, and then loops back in, where there is a naturally occurring gulch. My photos show a manzanita where the outer covering of orange-colored bark includes areas of separation, where the orange bark separates from itself, and exposes the gray-colored wood under the orange bark. Where Flat Frog Trail meets Frog Lake Trail, you will encounter a trail sign (see, my photo) pointing to Frog Lake, to Middle Ridge Trail, and to Hobbs Road. Hobbs Road is named after Louis Hobbs and Estelle Hobbs, who were married in the year, 1904. Mr. Hobbs owned two saloons in San Jose. Eventually, in the year 1919, Estelle sold her homestead to Rhoda Coe. In 1953, the Coe family transferred their property to Santa Clara County, as a park to be used by the public and in 1958 the land was donated to the State of California. A dam resulted in the creation of Frog Lake. Before that, what was situated here was a spring called, "Boden's Spring," named after homesteader Henry Boden. The homestead claim was made in the year, 1886. PHOTOS ALONG FLAT FROG TRAIL & FROG LAKE TRAIL. (1) Tall gnarly tree near the trailhead to, Flat Frog Tr., Fish Tr, and Forest Tr.; (2) Me in front of the gnarly tree, holding a triangle rock with a white interior (resembling a Hostess Twinkie) surrounded by green mineral, probably serpentine; (3) Trailhead for the above three trails; (4) Grand vista of valley to east of Flat Frog Trail; (5) View from Flat Frog Trail of massive cliffs on Middle Ridge; (6) Huge manzanita near Flat Frog Tr.; (7) Tattered manzanita near Flat Frog Tr.; (8) Boulder next to Flat Frog Tr.; (9) Sign reading, CAUTION BICYCLE WALK on Flat Frog Tr.; (10) End of Flat Frog Tr. where sign points to Frog Lake Trail; (11) Orange lichen next to Frog Lake Trail; (12) Mossy stones by Frog Lake Trail; (13) Me standing next to Frog Lake, holding same triangle rock. 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.

Beautiful scenery and very peaceful. This trail wasn't too busy on a Saturday afternoon. I would do…read morethis one again.

Caitlin was the nicest tour guide. She had us walking through nature and explained a lot about…read moremushroom hunting, and made the experience magic.

We went on the short hike adventure. This hike is perfect for someone who is a beginner who hasn't…read morethought about foraging in a forest before. We all learned something new. The guide was very nice and informative. Meeting at one location, then meeting at another 5 minutes away seemed like a time filler. I would recommend just giving a meeting location and starting on time at the location. People should be able to handle going pee and getting coffee on their own before a hike. Seriously, I would consider dropping that part of the tour. For the price I would have hoped for a location that was a little more remote or wooded. We walked 0.5 miles and could see the parking lot the whole time. A great addition would be to make a little helpful hints guide for all of the participants so they can look back and remember the tips. That would make the price seem more worth it.