McAbee Small Loop
- 📏 2.5 miles
- ⬆ 250 ft gain
- Moderate
- Loop
An excellent one-hour hike with fine views and great spring wildflowers. After parking on the street, it is a short walk up to the true park entrance, where you will find a few porta potties and a trail map. The hike works well in either direction, but I will describe the counter-clockwise version, where you go straight ahead. After about 0.2 miles, you will pass the historic settling towers of the Senador Mine, with a couple of plaques telling you about the history of the area. The next 0.6 miles is steady uphill before you reach a left turn. If you have time, go up the trail another 50 yards or so to the bench, to enjoy great views, both looking south to Mt. Umunhum and the Santa Cruz mountains, and north to views across San Jose to the Lick Observatory on the Mt. Hamilton Range. Backtrack those 50 yards to the turn and shortly you will reach the high point of the hike. About half way along this 0.6 mile section there is a short path to a bench, with excellent views of San Jose. This section ends at yet another bench, from where you head down the hill another 0.6 miles back to the start. This section can be quite slippery after heavy rains. You may notice a narrow trail going down from that bench, which is a steeper alternative what back.
McAbee Big Loop
- 📏 4.9 miles
- ⬆ 650 ft gain
- Moderate-hard
- Loop
Moderately hilly two-hour hike. After parking on the street, it's a short walk up to the true park entrance where you will find a few porta potties and a trail map. This hike works well in either direction, but I will describe the clockwise version. Take the left fork away from the picnic table, up the Mine Hill trail, which soon passes under trees then emerges as it climbs steadily for 0.5 miles up to the bench at the junction with the Guadalupe Trail. Continue up the more moderate slopes. Good views of the city can be had here and there to the left through the breaks in the trees. After 0.9 miles we pass the marker for the Cinnabar Trail, then continue 0.2 miles to the first views of the Guadalupe Reservoir. Make sure you turn right, heading steadily downhill to the dam. (The path across the dam leads to Hicks Road where there is a small amount of roadside parking). Continue on the occasionally steep downhill, listening for the Guadalupe Creek as the trail makes its way in and out of the trees. After about a mile, the trail climbs up before a sharp turn brings you onto what always feels like the homeward leg. Pass the bench and head downhill. This section has great views of San Jose, and behind it you can usually spot the gleaming white of the Lick Observatory on the Mt. Hamilton Range. Half a mile more brings you to the Senador Mine area, which is dominated by the two large concrete settling towers. Continue another 0.2 miles back to where you started.
Mockingbird Out and Back
- 📏 1.2 miles
- ⬆ 200 ft gain
- Easy
- Out and back
Short out-and-back to a picnic table. Three trails leave the Mockingbird parking lot; take the narrow New Almaden Trail. The first 0.1 miles is uphill to the crossing of the Hacienda trail. Head down and along the narrow trail over the small wooden bridge. Between April and May, the next half mile has some of the finest wildflowers you will see anywhere. Like much of the New Almaden trail, this section cuts in and out of canyons as it rises and falls moderately. Cross a small stream to the picnic table.
Wood Road to Rotary Furnace
- 📏 3.2 miles
- ⬆ 420 ft gain
- Easy-Moderate
- Out and Back
Scenic out and back with a good dose of park history. The parking area is reached by driving up to the summit of Hicks Road, where your hike starts at an altitude of 1400'. The first 0.5 miles takes you through a wonderful variety of habitat, beginning under full cover of mostly live oaks, crossing a stretch of chaparral, then emerging into rolling grassy hills. About half way along, you will pass a very odd pointy rocky outcrop on your left. Things get interesting as you approach the rotary furnace. Note the bamboo and pampas grass left over from cultivated areas, and look for the "Hanging Tree" on your right. The rotary furnace itself is fenced off and is in bad shape, but still one of the most impressive structures in the park. Stay right as you pass the furnace then sharp left at the next intersection to make a small loop back to the furnace via a short steep downhill section. Follow the trail around back to the parking area.
Mockingbird Randol Loop
- 📏 3.75 miles
- ⬆ 600 ft gain
- Moderate
- Loop
Moderately hilly two-hour hike with some steep downhill towards the end. This is one of the best hikes in the park. Three trails leave the Mockingbird parking lot; you will leave and return on the narrow New Almaden Trail. The first 0.1 miles is uphill to the crossing of the Hacienda trail. Head down and along the narrow trail over the small wooden bridge. Between April and May, the next half mile has some of the finest wildflowers you will see anywhere. Like much of the New Almaden trail, this section cuts in and out of canyons as it rises and falls moderately. Cross a small stream and turn sharp right up the slope. At the top of this section the trail turns back to the left and we should take the left fork up through the big berry manzanita to the Buena Vista area. Here you can see the large granite foundations that remain of a building that held a water pump for the Buena Vista Shaft. Follow the trail around on what is almost a contour, passing the Day Tunnel after about 0.5 miles. Continue on another 0.5 miles to the junction of the Randol and Mine Hill trails, where a picnic bench offers a welcome rest. Climb up over Capehorn pass and make a left onto the Hacienda trail, which will return you to the New Almaden trail after about 0.8 miles of quite steep downhill.
Webb Canyon Cinnabar Prospect Loop
- 📏 5.5 miles
- ⬆ 720 ft gain
- Moderate
- Loop
Moderately hilly scenic loop. Beware, there are a couple of short sections that are quite steep, so bring hiking poles if you have trouble on such slopes. The Webb Canyon entrance is just a gate on a black top road up to a water tank, with only limited on-street parking. But this entrance places you more or less at the mid-point of the New Almaden trail, opening up a host of new hikes. After a steep climb up the road, you join the Webb Canyon trail proper and contine to the junction with the New Almaden trail, which you should take northward, towards the Cinnabar trail, through the winding, undulating canyons of the New Almaden trail. Ascend the quite steep 0.1 miles of the Cinnabar trail and turn left onto Mine Hill trail. Just a few minutes more and you will reach the Guadalupe reservoir where you turn left up the moderate slope. Turn onto the Randol trail, which you follow for 1.5 miles while grntly climbing about 200 feet. Make a left turn down the narrow Prospect #3 trail, but make time to stop and enjoy the view at the rocky outcrop at that intersection, which is full of wildflowers in the spring. Afternoon sun colors the very air green, as the light diffuses through the thick canopy that covers the Prospect #3 trail along most of this stretch. All kinds of flowers and ferns decorate the trail, which stays cool and moist longer than most other trails in the park. The junction with the Randol trail is marked by a full picnic bench with fine views of the hills. Continue down the sometimes steep Prospect #3 to the New Almaden trail, where you make a left turn towards home. After 100 yards or so, the trail passes through a rocky area that has just about every kind of bush in the park, then continues on in more typical fashion, winding in and out of canyons. The 1.4 miles will pass quite quickly as you marvel at the form and beauty of this stretch, with its large bay laurel and oak trees, numerous ferns, and spots of color from the many wildflowers. Turn right at the Webb Canyon trail marker and retrace your earlier route home