A Beautiful Day at Calero County Park

Yesterday was a perfect day for a field trip with my De Anza College class at Calero County Park, which is in the eastern foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Jose.

We met at the large parking lot (no parking fee), which is just off McKean Road south of the reservoir. From there we began our 6.1-mile figure-8 hike by heading uphill on the Los Cerritos Trail and pausing at a pretty little pond to enjoy the songs of red wing blackbird. We then turned left on the Pena Trail to an intersection with an old corral. Take your time on this first part of the outing because parts of it are very steep.

From there we turned left on the Javelina Loop Trail, which makes a gentle ascent to where we stopped for lunch at a pretty pond at Fish Camp. There is a picnic table and benches on a platform overlooking the pond. After lunch we continued uphill to the west to a serpentine outcrop with great field of poppies and goldfield. This part of the trail is pretty steep in places. As the trail turns north and heads downhill there are some good views of the Calero Reservoir, and lots of wildflowers in the serpentine grassland, by stepping off the trail a short distance. The Javelina Loop Trail then heads east, passing a large elevated structure designed for bats to sleep during the day.  From there we continued back to the intersection with the old corral.

From the intersection we completed our double loop by taking the Figueroa Trail, which avoids the necessity of ascending the steep hill at the beginning of the hike. This 1.9-mile finish to our figure-8 is very gentle and offers wildflowers we had not seen earlier. At the end we chopped off some of the distance and elevation gain by climbing over a locked gate.

This park becomes hot and dry after about May 15. April is the perfect month to visit if you want to see lots of wildflowers and to enjoy mild temperatures. We saw Ithurial's spear,  purple vetch, blue-eyed grass, globe gilia, blue and white blue dicks, golden yarrow, golden poppies, goldfield, hedge nettle, linanthus, black sage, globe lilly, mule ear, checker mallow, Johnny-jump-up, and fiddlenecks.
Magnificent blue, white, black, and live oaks are one of the charms of this park year around. These ancient oaks have contorted branches that reach in all directions, even down to the ground and back up again.

TO GET THERE... from Highway 101, south of where it intersect Highway 85 in San Jose,  take Baily Avenue west and turn south on McKean Road. Look for the Calero County Park entrance on the left.