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Coyote Ridge Docent's Hike by Ronald Horii
Coyote Ridge is one of the latest and largest acquisitions by the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority (OSA):
http://www.openspaceauthority.org/preservation/coyoteridge.html
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_26669755/historic-silicon-valley-site-becoming-new-public-open
It includes 1831 acres of land on top of the ridge west of 101 overlooking the Coyote Valley. The property once belonged to United Technologies, who used it as buffer land for their rocket plant east of the ridge. It stretches for 2 miles along the ridgetop south of Motorcycle County Park and north of the Kirby Canyon Landfill. It adjoins the VTA mitigation land, which is managed by the Open Space Authority, and where docent-led hikes have been held in previous years: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.920661647957358.1073741906.100000405933924&type=1&l=a85605352b
This VTA land is only managed and not owned by the OSA, so public hikes were mostly limited to only one month in the spring. The acquisition of this new property will allow the OSA more flexibility to schedule public access. It won't be freely accessible to the public for some time, which requires planning, permits, and trail construction. In the meantime, docent-guided hikes can be offered. The purpose of today's hike was to allow OSA docents to preview the property and scout out routes for hikes and points of interest for interpretive talks. What's important about this preserve is that it protects serpentine grassland habitats, which includes rare and endangered species. Coyote Ridge has the world's largest population of Bay Checkerspot butterflies. Serpentine environments also have spectactular spring wildflower displays. This was last year: http://www.stpfriends.org/CoyoteRidge_03-15-15/CoyoteRidge.html
That hike ended at a lookout point on a hill overlooking the Shingle Valley. Today's hike ended at the same point, but came up from a different direction. The total distance was about 6.5 miles.
There are no public hikes scheduled there yet, but check the OSA's website in a month or two: http://www.openspaceauthority.org/activities/index.html
Coyote Ridge is one of the latest and largest acquisitions by the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority (OSA):
http://www.openspaceauthority.org/preservation/coyoteridge.html
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_26669755/historic-silicon-valley-site-becoming-new-public-open
It includes 1831 acres of land on top of the ridge west of 101 overlooking the Coyote Valley. The property once belonged to United Technologies, who used it as buffer land for their rocket plant east of the ridge. It stretches for 2 miles along the ridgetop south of Motorcycle County Park and north of the Kirby Canyon Landfill. It adjoins the VTA mitigation land, which is managed by the Open Space Authority, and where docent-led hikes have been held in previous years: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.920661647957358.1073741906.100000405933924&type=1&l=a85605352b
This VTA land is only managed and not owned by the OSA, so public hikes were mostly limited to only one month in the spring. The acquisition of this new property will allow the OSA more flexibility to schedule public access. It won't be freely accessible to the public for some time, which requires planning, permits, and trail construction. In the meantime, docent-guided hikes can be offered. The purpose of today's hike was to allow OSA docents to preview the property and scout out routes for hikes and points of interest for interpretive talks. What's important about this preserve is that it protects serpentine grassland habitats, which includes rare and endangered species. Coyote Ridge has the world's largest population of Bay Checkerspot butterflies. Serpentine environments also have spectactular spring wildflower displays. This was last year: http://www.stpfriends.org/CoyoteRidge_03-15-15/CoyoteRidge.html
That hike ended at a lookout point on a hill overlooking the Shingle Valley. Today's hike ended at the same point, but came up from a different direction. The total distance was about 6.5 miles.
There are no public hikes scheduled there yet, but check the OSA's website in a month or two: http://www.openspaceauthority.org/activities/index.html
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