A pleasant walk through varied terrain, including a vista point with expansive views of Silicon Valley.

Location: Rancho San Antonio County Park

» Official Trail Map: High quality map showing various trail sections.

» Redwoodhikes Trail Map: Great map showing many parks like Purisima Creek, Huddart, Wunderlich, El Corte De Madera, Foothills, Hidden Villa and Rancho San Antonio. Trail maps for individual parks are available online for free. However, the RedwoodHikes map shows the big picture and is helpful for planning hikes that go through multiple parks.

To Vista Point (3.0 miles): From the parking lot with restrooms, follow an unnamed trail towards the traihead for PG&E trail (0.2 miles) → right on PG&E Trail (0.5 miles) → continue along Coyote Trail (0.7 + 0.3 miles) → left on Wildcat Loop Trail (0.5 + 0.1 + 0.6 + 0.1 miles) to reach Vista Point, which provides excellent views of Silicon Valley. This is a quiet spot with a bench for relaxing. Most of the climb in this route is along PG&E Trail and Wildcat Loop Trail. There is a half mile section of Wildcat Loop Trail (from Deer Hollow Farm to PG&E Trail) that is all along a creek. This section is particularly cold, especially during winters.

To Parking Lot (1.9 miles): From Vista Point, climb down and turn right on High Meadow Trail (0.8 miles) → left on unnamed trail to Deer Hollow Farm. Follow the trail adjoining the semi paved road (0.8 miles) → right on unnamed trail (0.3 miles) to parking lot.

Location: near 22500 Cristo Rey Drive, Los Altos, CA 94024 . Parking area is visible in Google Maps if you zoom in sufficiently.

Directions: From I-280, north or south, take the Foothill Boulevard exit and proceed south on Foothill Boulevard approximately 0.2-mile to Cristo Rey Drive. Turn right on Cristo Rey Drive, continue for about 1 mile, veer right around the traffic circle, and turn left into the County Park entrance.

Google Maps:

Parking Fees: None (last visited: Feb 2010)

Capacity: Free parking for dozens of cars. However, the park is very popular among local residents, so parking is always a challenge.

Latitude: 37.332716     Longitude: -122.086800