A Figure 8 hike in Calero County Park

Calero County Park, south of San Jose, contains a reservoir and 3,476 acres, with trails that continue into adjacent Canada Del Oro Open Space Preserve. On the dry east side of the Santa Cruz Mountains, this park is hot and dry from late Spring until early Fall. I like it best from late March until mid-May when the grassy hills are green and there are lots of wild flowers.

Yesterday I lead my College of San Mateo class on a 6.1 mile figure 8 loop that left from the main parking lot off of McKean Road. With some steep uphill sections this was the most strenuous of the three field trips for this class. We took the Los Cerritos Trail uphill, past a little pond, and then turned left and up a steep section of the Pena Trail. We stopped to admire beautiful blue oaks, live oaks, and white oaks.

At an abandoned corral amid a bay tree woodland we continued on the Javelina Loop Trail to a small pond with a picnic trail, where we stopped for lunch. From there we continued uphill, past a serpentine grassland, and then downhill where we enjoyed a view of the reservoir. We then headed east on the Javelina Loop Trail to the Bat Inn, a structure that houses thousands of bats during the day. This section of trail has some steep uphill parts. Back at the corral intersection we hiked the Figueroa Trail, which parallels Calero Creek back to the parking lot. Some of us took the short cut by climbing over the gate.

Along the way we stopped to look at Persian clover, wild mustard, rose clover, blue eyed grass, vetch, black sage, coast sage, golden yarrow, blue dick, gilia, Ithurials spear, blow wives, linanthus, poppies, and blue elderberries.

TO GET THERE... from Highway 101 southbound from San Jose take Bernal Road west and turn south on McKean Road to the park entrance on the right.