We recently moved to Morgan Hill and found that one of the largest state parks is literally at our door step! So on a beautiful spring morning we decided to go up and see what it the park is all about!.
A 20 minute car ride around beautiful Anderson Lake and up winding East Dunne and we were at the entrance to the park. The weather was like a dream -- in the 60s and very pleasant. There was absolutely no breeze.
Paid the $8 entrance fee and found out that the park is huge! We were not prepared for the size of the park. We had a small bottle of water between the 2 of us. So any large hikes would have to wait for a future date. In spite of this, we did go out on a small hike that lasted all of an hour and a half. We went up a ridge and saw some spectacular views of the Diablo range.
We learnt after our hike that the 3.5 mile route we took is called the Forest Trail. It involved a climb of ~350 feet, but the climb itself was a gradual one. A simple loop at the top and then it was time to head back. Alas, there was no water in the Lion Spring due to the California drought.
We made a promise that we would go back again for a longer hike, this time to Frog Pond, hoping that there would be water in the pond.
The sky was so clear we could see a long long way in the valleys. The area was so quite, we could hear sounds from a long way off! We did not meet anyone in our 90 minutes of walking and climbing and were amazed that such a huge state park could be so quite and peaceful so close to home!
A 20 minute car ride around beautiful Anderson Lake and up winding East Dunne and we were at the entrance to the park. The weather was like a dream -- in the 60s and very pleasant. There was absolutely no breeze. Paid the $8 entrance fee and found out that the park is huge! We were not prepared for the size of the park. We had a small bottle of water between the 2 of us. So any large hikes would have to wait for a future date. In spite of this, we did go out on a small hike that lasted all of an hour and a half. We went up a ridge and saw some spectacular views of the Diablo range.
We learnt after our hike that the 3.5 mile route we took is called the Forest Trail. It involved a climb of ~350 feet, but the climb itself was a gradual one. A simple loop at the top and then it was time to head back. Alas, there was no water in the Lion Spring due to the California drought.
We made a promise that we would go back again for a longer hike, this time to Frog Pond, hoping that there would be water in the pond.The sky was so clear we could see a long long way in the valleys. The area was so quite, we could hear sounds from a long way off! We did not meet anyone in our 90 minutes of walking and climbing and were amazed that such a huge state park could be so quite and peaceful so close to home!
