Lake Cunningham Park

Lake Cunningham Park

This last weekend we went to Lake Cunningham Park for the Fall Family Fun Festival. It was pretty impressive. The park is already a neat place to play and visit. The Fall Festival added a whole bunch of great activities, however, and it was all free. That is what amazed me, that there could still exist an event like this where all is free for the public. I mean everything you would need for a great family day including parking, performances, activities like zip lining and rock climbing, pumpkins- big ones too, hotdogs, chips and water that Lucky grocery store donated and that the San Jose fire fighters were cooking and preparing for the community… all of this free! In budgeting there have been times at fairs when we have had to tell the kids no for certain rides or activities. So you can imagine how great it was to play at this community event and not have to say no for economic reasons to anything. We had a blast. It was a great experience and I am grateful to be paying taxes in a community like this and spending money in local businesses that contribute to these events. Also, I had no excuse but to go on the zip line, too. That was AWESOME!

Lake Cunningham Park
That’s a giant human sized hamster ball… with a human rolling around inside it.
Lake Cunningham Park
A festival visitor going down the zip line. Going down later turned out to be one my big adventures for the day. It was sooo cool!
Lake Cunningham Park
There is something great about being around lots of people enjoying themselves at fairs and festivals.

Alum Rock Park

San Jose’s first city park, it is also the first municipal park in California. Alum Rock Park was founded in 1872 and is 720 acres large. It reminds me of a county park in that it is so large with so many trails and has a visitor center. It also has a Youth Science Institute that opened in 1953 and continues to offer programs for school aged children.

Alum Rock Park
Alum Rock Park
Alum Rock Park
Inside the YSI (Youth Science Institute) building.

This place used to be a nationally known destination as people would come to soak in the mineral baths for what they believed to be its curative properties. Most of the natural mineral springs have dried up to a trickle or completely. The park stresses nature now so many of the old structures are gone such as the restaurant, mineral baths, and indoor public swimming pool with a two story pool slide. The old stone bridges remain, as do some of the other stone structures and train supports. With train service gone for many years now, the people of San Jose could at one time get on a train in downtown and come to Alum Rock Park to enjoy what was essentially a resort.

When it was realized that over use of the land was causing damage, the decision was made to return the area to a more natural state for people to enjoy. And so, today, it is a great mix of interesting history, stone structures, barbecue gatherings, kids in playgrounds, people, and the nature of the canyon along the Penitencia Creek that make up Alum Rock Park.

Alum Rock Park

28 County Parks – part 5 of 5

Alviso Marina County Park

Alviso Marina County Park
Alviso Marina County Park
The Salt Marsh Safari is free, though you have to sign up for tickets online in advance. The hour and a half boat ride through the Alviso slogh, which is the Guadalupe River flowing through the marsh lands on its way to the San Francisco Bay, comes with county park staff to guide the learning.
Alviso Marina County Park
Alviso Marina County Park
Alviso Marina County Park
In the San Francisco Bay, looking south east. Flowing towards us from the left comes the Coyote Creek water as it mixes with the Guadalupe River water coming in from the right. In other words, this is all water that has already flowed flowed through several of the county parks we have been visiting.

Ed Levin County Park

Ed Levin County Park
Ed Levin County Park
Ed Levin County Park
Ed Levin County Park

Penitencia Creek County Park

Penitencia County Park
Penitencia County Park

Joseph D. Grant County Park

Joseph D. Grant County Park
Lick Observatory from the ranch house garden. So many humming birds in here.
Joseph D. Grant County Park
Joseph D. Grant County Park
Joseph D. Grant County Park
Black-tailed deer.
Joseph D. Grant County Park
A family of nine wild boar. This day had so much wild life!
Joseph D. Grant County Park
Turkey Vulture above. There were also countless wild turkeys on the ground.

Hellyer County Park

Hellyer County Park
Hellyer County Park

Martial Cottle County Park

Martial Cottle County Park
Martial Cottle County Park
Martial Cottle County Park

Wow. That was all 28 Santa Clara County Parks. That was a great adventure for us. We saw so much wildlife, so many reservoirs supporting our drinking water, played and explored in some of our favorite places, found new places, and learned much. In fact, I continue to learn as I research the parks we visited and things we read, saw, or heard from park rangers and other visitors.

Visiting them all, one after the other, was an arbitrary challenge I came up with… And it turned out wonderfully… And it became a sweet and memorable family experience.

28 County Parks – part 3 of 5

Almaden Quicksilver County Park

Almaden Quicksilver County Park
Almaden Quicksilver County Park
Almaden Quicksilver County Park

Los Gatos Creek County Park

Los Gatos Creek County Park
Los Gatos Creek County Park
Los Gatos Creek County Park

Vasona County Park

Vasona County Park
Vasona County Park
Technically, the train station pictured here for the one-third scale train is in the city park adjacent to the county park, though most of the track runs through the county park.

Lexington County Park

Lexington County Park
Lexington County Park

Villa Montalvo County Park

Villa Montalvo County Park
Villa Montalvo County Park
Villa Montalvo County Park
Villa Montalvo County Park

28 County Parks – part 2 of 5

Mount Madonna County Park

Mount Madonna County Park
Mount Madonna County Park
Mount Madonna County Park

Chitactac-Adams County Park

Chitactac-Adams County Park
Chitactac-Adams County Park
Chitactac-Adams County Park
That symbol on the rock, like ripples, is a 2000 year old petroglyph!
Chitactac-Adams County Park

Uvas Reservoir County Park

Uvas Reservoir County Park

Uvas Canyon County Park

Uvas Canyon County Park
Uvas Canyon County Park

Chesbro Reservoir County Park

Chesbro County Park

Calero County Park

Calero County Park
Calero County Park
My oldest took this photo.

28 County Parks – part 1 of 5

The arbitrary mission I assigned myself was to pack lunches, snacks, water, and kids into a car and visit, or revisit, each of the 28 Santa Clara County Parks within a few days. I don’t know how arbitrary missions and the accomplishment of them can be so satisfying, but it was a wonderful adventure.

Santa Teresa County Park

Santa Teresa County Park
Santa Teresa County Park
Santa Teresa County Park

Coyote Creek County Park

Coyote Creek County Park
Coyote Creek County Park

Motorcycle County Park

Motorcycle County Park
Motorcycle County Park
Motorcycle County Park

Field Sports County Park

Field Sports County Park
Field Sports County Park

Anderson Lake County Park

Anderson Lake County Park
Anderson Lake County Park

Coyote Lake Harvey Bear County Park

Coyote Lake County Park
Coyote Lake County Park
Coyote Lake County Park

Big Basin Redwoods State Park

Big Basin State Park

The first California State Park, it opened in 1902 to protect old growth forest in the Santa Cruz Mountains. In the beginning it was known as California Redwood Park and changed its name to Big Basin Redwoods State Park a few decades later.

Big Basin State Park
About 20 miles from San Jose through the air, the beautiful winding roads make it about 34 miles of great driving.

Many of the old growth redwood trees here are over 1,000 years old. Wow!

Big Basin State Park
That tall tree in the center of the photo, out in the sun, is believed to be about 2,000 years old. So, it was there close to year 0.
Big Basin State Park
Local resident and docent Barry led a tour. Here on a trail a group of 12 at arms length estimate the circumference of one of the older trees in the park.

Much of the credit for the creation of the first California State Park goes to a San Jose photographer named Andrew P. Hill. All of these years I had heard of Andrew Hill high school in San Jose and never thought to ask who he was. Now I know. Andrew Hill was amazed at the sight of the old redwood trees, tallest trees on earth and able to live over 2,000 years. Through his photography and connections, he supported the preservation of these special forests. He led excursions of influential people to the trees that led to the funding and legislation that secured our first state park. Today, there is approximately 3% of the old growth redwood forests remaining in California and most of that is now on protected state public lands.

Big Basin State Park
Ranger programs and marshmallows.
Big Basin State Park
The roots of a fallen redwood tree.
Big Basin State Park
Big Basin State Park
The redwood trees are well suited to live through years, storms, fires, and more.
Big Basin State Park
Big Basin State Park
This redwood tree, and a few of its clones and relatives nearby, has a genetic mutation that gives its bark this wavy shape.

The park is beautiful. The trees are beautiful. The guided walk we went on added so much to the entire experience. I found myself trying to identify trees afterwards and seeing new things around me as I contemplated the life cycles of the rain forest. Also cool, I now know what a huckleberry is and what it tastes like.