A Boot Conundrum at Santa Teresa Park on the Ridge Trail

The Bay Area Ridge Trail at Santa Teresa County Park begins with a steep, mile-long hike up to Coyote Peak and its magnificent view of the South Bay. After returning to the starting point, the trail undulates through the park before exiting down a rocky set of switchbacks and picking up suburban footpaths along the banks of Calero and Los Alamitos creeks.

We are hiking the 405-mile Bay Area Ridge Trail. Sign up to follow our progress here.

TRAIL MAP (date hiked)

• Santa Teresa County Park and Colero/Los Alamitos Creeks Trail (Jan. 30, 2023)

Our Journal

If you don’t like the terrain while hiking at Santa Teresa County Park and along the two creeks, just wait a minute. The eight-mile trek led us across …

• A steep, slick fire road to Coyote Peak. (We could see downtown San Francisco on the horizon, more than 50 miles away.)
• A smooth, flat winding trail between green hillsides.
• Two muddy creek crossings.
• Narrow switchbacks littered with rocks up and out of the park and then down to Calero Creek. (We found rocks large enough for lunchtime seating with a view.)
• Dried mud etched with bicycle tracks along San Vincente Avenue.
• A shady creekside path that felt like a country lane as it rambled past an orchard on the grounds of the adjacent IBM Research property.
• A paved bike path and crushed-rock jogging trail through suburban neighborhoods.
• A concrete sidewalk to the paved parking lot and trailhead at Almaden Quicksilver County Park.

So, if you have a pair of light-weight, steel-toed, waterproof boots with a cushioned soul and ankle support, wear them. Don’t forget your crampons.

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