Introduction:
Where? : St.
Joseph's Hill Preserve is relatively small park located just south of Los Gatos
hills viewing Lexington Reservoir.
Main parking lot is located at the Lexington Reservoir Alma Bridge road.
What? : Open hill landscape with nice view both to Lexington Reservoir and to South Bay
Length? : Overall this can be around 3-4 miles hike, moderate difficulty.
The Visit:
Jones Trail start with steep climb up the hill. After 0.5 mile you
will turn right into the main park section, if you keep going straight on Jones
Trail it will take you to Los Gatos gate.
keep going up (right) on Novitiate Trail, after 0.2 mile turn right into Manzanita Trail.
This trail keeps climbing on the hill side with lake viewing.
At
St. Joseph's hilltop viewing point you will reach the end of your climb, enjoy the view both
west and into the south bay.
You can
have few shortcuts on the way up with connectors trails that will take you to Novitiate
Trail. No matter what you chose you will need to take Novitiate Trail back down
to Jones Trail and from there back to the parking lot.
The overall
hike is 3 miles, but it feels longer because the first half of it is constant
uphill.
You can
combine this park visit with a much longer loop hike over Los Gatos Creek
Trail.
Lexington
Reservoir visit: you can find many places you can hike on the reservoir waterfront.
My thoughts: not a must visit park, nice view on the lake and the south valley but can be crowded, no shade and can be hot during summer days.
www:
https://www.openspace.org/preserves/st-josephs-hill
Map:
https://www.openspace.org/sites/default/files/map_SJH.pdf
Pictures
Comments
Post a Comment