Not every hike has to be an all-day trek through
uncharted wilderness. You may want a short walk in the park.
Literally. So put away your boots and survival gear. Instead, bring
your kids, a reluctant exerciser, or perhaps a favorite aunt who
walks with a cane. Pack a picnic lunch and a few bottles of water.
You are ready for an easy half-day saunter.
Drive to Saratoga, then turn left on their main
street, Big Basin Way/Highway 9, then turn right up Pierce Road (the
road to Mountain Winery), and left on Mount Eden Road. Pass by
wrought-iron fences guarding giant castle-like houses that let you
know that some people are way richer than we are. But as my yoga
instructor Paulie Angel says when I fall down, "Don’t worry so much
about it." Just remember that you own your day.
After passing Garrod Farms and lots of horses,
you can make your first stop at the Lakeshore Picnic Area of Stevens
Creek Park, Santa Clara County’s oldest county park. It’s a short
walk through the forested picnic area, complete with benches, fire
stands, telephones, and bathrooms, down to the waters of Stevens
Creek Reservoir.
Back in the car, continue along the reservoir
past the CDF fire station, and then turn left on Montebello Road.
The road takes you around a curve and uphill to the gates of the
Picchetti Ranch Winery where a nice, big parking lot awaits. If you
are there between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., you can visit the winery
first.
The area within the winery complex has wide dirt
roads and bathrooms accessible to wheelchairs. The four miles of
trails around the complex are not all wheelchair-accessible, but you
could push a stroller over most of them.
If you want to walk the trails first, stay to the
right as you enter the winery area. You’ll see signs that show the
entrance to the open-space-preserve trails. You’ll walk through
orchards and vineyards to oak-studded and chaparral-covered hills.
The entire preserve fits within 308 acres.
Take a leisurely walk to a small pond on the Bear
Meadow Trail. Continue on to a forest-covered knoll offering superb
views of Santa Clara Valley. Or walk the 1.9-mile-long Zinfandel
Trail through shaded areas lush with ferns and views of Stevens
Creek Reservoir. I walked a pleasant loop, taking the Zinfandel
Trail past the pond to Bear Meadow Trail, then back on Orchard Loop
Trail.
After your hike, stop by the winery for a picnic,
wine tasting, or a soft drink, The old buildings are listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. Inside, you’ll find
interesting historical artifacts and some tasty local wines.
Outside, you can enjoy a little stream, some waterfalls, picnic
benches, and a visit with the resident peacocks.
If you need more exercise after your picnic,
drive back down Montebello Road, then turn left up Stevens Canyon
Road. About 3/10 of a mile beyond the Baytree Picnic Area, watch for
the entrance to the Chestnut Picnic Area. (It’s easy to miss.) Drive
down to the parking lot. (Parking costs $5.) From there, you can
walk down an access road to the ranger station/visitor center where
you should find maps and posted information. Continue down the road
until you see a sign for the Stevens Creek/Tony Look Trail. This
trail takes you by the reservoir spillway, dam, and shoreline.
For a short hike, you can see the spillway, and
then retrace your steps until just past a gate behind the spillway,
where you turn left on the Coyote Ridge Trail connecting to Rim
Trail. This trail takes you on the other side of Stevens Creek, and
then loops back to your starting point near the Visitor Center.
For a longer hike, instead of turning back at the
dam continue down the eastern shore of the reservoir past Laurel
Flat, and hike into Fremont Older Open Space Preserve, and then loop
back on Coyote Ridge back to the north end of Stevens Creek Park.
You can also explore several picnic areas at the top and bottom ends
of the park.
If you are looking for an easy-to-reach,
easy-to-walk hike that is long on picnicking opportunities and short
on walking miles, you may enjoy Picchetti Ranch and Stevens Creek
Park. For more information about Picchetti Ranch Open Space, call
650-691-1200, or visit www.openspace.org. For more about the winery,
call 408-741-1310, or visit www.picchetti.com. To learn more about
Stevens Creek Park, call 408-355-2201, or visit www.parkhere.org.