{"id":1748,"date":"2008-02-14T07:35:27","date_gmt":"2008-02-14T15:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/rancho-san-antonio-county-park-and-open-space-preserve\/"},"modified":"2008-03-20T14:02:57","modified_gmt":"2008-03-20T22:02:57","slug":"rancho-san-antonio-county-park-and-open-space-preserve","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/rancho-san-antonio-county-park-and-open-space-preserve\/","title":{"rendered":"Rancho San Antonio County Park and Open Space Preserve"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the San Jose Mercury News, Feb. 14, 2008<\/em><\/p>\n

So you think he might be the One, but the real deal-killer question looms: What kind of hiker is he?<\/p>\n

\n

\"Nice<\/a><\/p>\n

Park profile<\/strong><\/p>\n

Acres:<\/strong> 165 in the county park; 3,800 in the neighboring open space preserve.<\/p>\n

Miles of trails: <\/strong>24-plus<\/p>\n

Hours: <\/strong>8 a.m. to half-hour after sunset. Deer Hollow Farm is open Tuesday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (except Wednesdays, when it closes at 1 p.m.)<\/p>\n

Limitations: <\/strong>No dogs<\/p>\n

Parking:<\/strong> Free (carpooling is advised, as the lots fill quickly on weekends)
\n
\nDriving directions:<\/strong> From I-280, take the Foothill Boulevard exit and head south on Foothill for 0.2 miles to Cristo Rey Drive. Turn right, go about a mile, veer right around the traffic circle, and turn left into the county park entrance.
\n
\nOn the Web:<\/strong> www.openspace.org\n<\/div>\n

Will he match your pace out of kindness, leave you behind out of rudeness or get you both lost out of cluelessness?<\/p>\n

A few hours at Rancho San Antonio County Park and Open Space Preserve might just settle the matter. The trails are wide and well-maintained, inclines go from flat to steep and back in short order, and there’s even a farm to see how he behaves around kids and livestock.<\/p>\n

Just down the road from Mountain View and less than two miles from Interstate 280, Rancho gets mobbed on the weekends – finding a parking space will remind you of your favorite mall three days before Christmas – but the crowds fade beyond Deer Hollow Farm. From there, the trails snake up and down the tree-covered canyons of the open space preserve, with overlooks offering at least a half-dozen Inspiration Points looking out over the South Bay.<\/p>\n

Standard precautions:<\/strong> Watch for poison oak, and be ready for slogging through a bit of winter mud. It’s cold in the canyons and windy on the high meadows, so wear layers.<\/p>\n

Hike suggestions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Easy:<\/strong> The one-mile walk out to Deer Hollow Farm will be crowded, but the kids and critters at the farm will be positively charming.<\/p>\n

Moderate:<\/strong> Wildcat Canyon Trail plunges deep into the woods, leaving multiple options for three- to five-mile hikes with just enough climb to take the bite off the canyon’s chill. Climbing to a ridge overlooking Silicon Valley and returning on the Upper Rogue Valley Trail is an excellent option.<\/p>\n

Hard:<\/strong> A classic 14-mile out-and-back trek takes the Rogue Valley Trail to Chamise Trail to Black Mountain Trail to the Black Mountain Summit, which offers stunning panoramas: On clear winter days you can see the Pacific Ocean, San Francisco and the sprawl of the South Bay from a comfortable distance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the San Jose Mercury News, Feb. 14, 2008 So you think he might be the One, but the real deal-killer question looms: What kind of hiker is he? Park profile Acres: 165 in the county park; 3,800 in the…<\/p>\n

Read the whole thing<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1748"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1748\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}