Coyote Creek Trail: from San Jose to Morgan Hill From Richard Katz's
Skating Unrinked book, published in paperback by HarperCollinsWest in 1994. Or was it '95? If you are not reading this on a screen, stop reading and head to www.Amazon.com. Thanx. Richard Katz = katz@frogojt.com. email
If you didn't really want to read a rollerskating trails book: Back to Richard Katz's Homepage
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Chapter coyote
Coyote Creek Trail: from San Jose to Morgan Hill
The first time you venture onto this trail, you will be amazed that you didn't try it out years ago. Everyone who has driven up and down Highway 101 has passed within a few hundred yards of it, but few people from outside San Jose know about it and enjoy it. It's pleasant, relaxing, and bucolic for most of its ten or so miles, and no problem for beginners.
In some places the Coyote Creek Trail is ideal; quiet, smooth, and easy to skate on, surrounded by trees and fields. In at least one or two places, it is a public servant's nightmare, ravished by graffiti and underfunded for maintenance.
How to Get There by Car from Highway 101:
This trail parallels Highway 101.
Take the Cochran Road exit off Highway 101 (the South Valley Freeway) in Morgan Hill, and head west on Cochran Road. Turn right on Monterey Highway, which is Business Route 101, and which was formerly State Highway 101. Take your time; since the new freeway went through, this stretch of road is pretty sleepy. After going a little over two miles north you will see a sign directing you to Riverside Golf Course, to the right. Take the right turn, and after about a half mile, you will see the trail heading south on your right. A bit further on, and you will see the trail heading north, protected by some concrete parking lot pylons. Park by the electric substation and put on your skates.
What It's Like:
From the electric substation, you can skate for two miles south, through brushland, on a curvy strip of smooth asphalt. Round trip, that's a nice four+ mile excursion. Or you can go north, bearing in mind that the trail runs over ten miles that way, and the best part was where you started.
When you head north, the first mile or so is above a dry undergrounded creek. Then you find yourself in a beautiful riparian environment, on a great trail with a distinctive rural milieu. For miles there are no cross streets. Then the trail dumps you onto a dead end street, just opposite the South County Schutzhund Club. Skate a long block on that street, then jog left onto another dead end street (Emado Avenue), and continue where you see the trail heading north.
On subsequent visits to Coyote Creek, you may wish to start at different places. Metcalf Road has good access to the trail; it's about 3.25 miles from the Riverside Golf access. A bit further up the trail, Menard Drive allows access, although it is itself in an upscale controlled parking subdivision that has been built since the new freeway went through. Just drive to the end of the road, and you will see the path near a low wooden fence. Parking is problematic.
There is a truly public access to the trail at Shady Oak Park, on Coyote Road in San Jose. From Coyote Road, skate all the way across Shaky Oak Park and look around for a rusty bridge. The trail is on the other side of that bridge. Look carefully, the trail's a little difficult to spot.
North of Shady Oak Park, the path is badly degraded by roots bumping up through the surface all the way to Hellyer Park. (There is another section of the path near Capitol Expressway and Tuers Avenue; it is discontinuous from the rest of the path, and therefore little used. It is also awash in graffiti.)
Places to Eat:
There are still some really charming places to buy fruit and get a bit to eat along Old Highway 101, including Pedrizetti's Winery at the south end in Morgan Hill. The area is delightful in the spring when the fruit stands sell local cherries. But this area is changing rapidly. There are refreshments to be had at the golf course (open at 6 A.M.) and there are any number of places to shop and eat along Old Highway 101 (Monterey Highway) in Morgan Hill, a bit south of where the trail starts. The truly delightful part of a trip to this neighborhood is in the Spring when fruit stands sell local cherries, about a mile or two from where you are going to skate.
Public Transportation:
You can take the bus to Hellyer Park. Just hop on SCTA 70, 72 or 73.
Ratings:
Path Surface = **** (some ***)
Public Transit Access = ***
Surroundings = ****
Level of Difficulty = EASY
Overall Rating = ****
Length = ten miles
Other trails to check out in the neighborhood:
The north end of the Los Gatos Creek Trail is also in southern San Jose.
10/10/96
Note from the Author: Haven't put in links to the other chapters yet.
From Richard Katz's Skating Unrinked book, published in paperback by HarperCollinsWest in 1994. Or was it '95? If you are not reading this on a screen, stop reading and head to www.Amazon.com. Thanx. Richard Katz = katz@frogojt.com. email
Back to Richard Katz's Homepage
If you want to go back to the Table of Contents of Skating Unrinked, Back to TOC