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Rocky Ridge Trail Work, Santa Teresa County Park, 9/29/23 by Ronald Horii
The Rocky Ridge Trail in Santa Teresa County Park is a popular 1.8-mile trail. The bottom of the trail starts at the Mine Trail junction near the Pueblo Area and climbs up the hill to meet the Coyote Peak Trail. The lower parts of the trail run through clay soil and tend to get muddy during the rainy season. The trail is often closed during that time to all users. It was closed this year until mid-April. The upper parts run through very rocky serpentine areas. The serpentine soil promotes the growth of native plants, and the trail has spectacular displays of native wildflowers in the spring. It's also a good trail to see wildlife, particularly birds, and it has great views. It is a popular trail for experienced mountain bikers because the rocky trail presents a technical challenge. I would not recommend it for beginners. I saw trail work being started on the Rocky Ridge Trail on 9/6/23: https://tinyurl.com/3w9skhpc. I wanted to see how the work was going and how far they would be going, so I hiked up the trail almost to the rock wall. Below are pictures from today, along comparison pictures from other times.
Here are pictures of the Rocky Ridge on 4/13/23, showing some of its muddy spots: https://tinyurl.com/2s3r5pxk.
Here are pictures of a work day on the lower part of the trail in 2004, showing what the trail looked like nearly 2 decades ago: http://www.stpfriends.org/RockyRidge_04-10-04/RockyRidge_04-10-04.htm.
Here are pictures of the trail from 2008, showing the original route of the trail: http://www.stpfriends.org/CoyotePk-08/CoyotePk-08.html.
This was work on the lower part of the Rocky Ridge Trail on 1/17/15, when it was under construction: https://tinyurl.com/2cbp6yhu. The bottom of the trail was re-routed, and a new bridge was built. Here are pictures of wildflowers and views on the whole Rocky Ridge Trail on 4/30/17: https://tinyurl.com/29b8w6h4.
Here are more pictures of Santa Teresa Park: http://www.stpfriends.org/#newpictures. This is information about Santa Teresa Park, with maps: https://parks.sccgov.org/santa-clara-county-parks/santa-teresa-county-park. Update 10/2/23: I went back and retraced my steps with an odometer app running on my phone. I added mileage measurements to some of the key pictures, starting from the start of Rocky Ridge Trail.
The Rocky Ridge Trail in Santa Teresa County Park is a popular 1.8-mile trail. The bottom of the trail starts at the Mine Trail junction near the Pueblo Area and climbs up the hill to meet the Coyote Peak Trail. The lower parts of the trail run through clay soil and tend to get muddy during the rainy season. The trail is often closed during that time to all users. It was closed this year until mid-April. The upper parts run through very rocky serpentine areas. The serpentine soil promotes the growth of native plants, and the trail has spectacular displays of native wildflowers in the spring. It's also a good trail to see wildlife, particularly birds, and it has great views. It is a popular trail for experienced mountain bikers because the rocky trail presents a technical challenge. I would not recommend it for beginners. I saw trail work being started on the Rocky Ridge Trail on 9/6/23: https://tinyurl.com/3w9skhpc. I wanted to see how the work was going and how far they would be going, so I hiked up the trail almost to the rock wall. Below are pictures from today, along comparison pictures from other times.
Here are pictures of the Rocky Ridge on 4/13/23, showing some of its muddy spots: https://tinyurl.com/2s3r5pxk.
Here are pictures of a work day on the lower part of the trail in 2004, showing what the trail looked like nearly 2 decades ago: http://www.stpfriends.org/RockyRidge_04-10-04/RockyRidge_04-10-04.htm.
Here are pictures of the trail from 2008, showing the original route of the trail: http://www.stpfriends.org/CoyotePk-08/CoyotePk-08.html.
This was work on the lower part of the Rocky Ridge Trail on 1/17/15, when it was under construction: https://tinyurl.com/2cbp6yhu. The bottom of the trail was re-routed, and a new bridge was built. Here are pictures of wildflowers and views on the whole Rocky Ridge Trail on 4/30/17: https://tinyurl.com/29b8w6h4.
Here are more pictures of Santa Teresa Park: http://www.stpfriends.org/#newpictures. This is information about Santa Teresa Park, with maps: https://parks.sccgov.org/santa-clara-county-parks/santa-teresa-county-park. Update 10/2/23: I went back and retraced my steps with an odometer app running on my phone. I added mileage measurements to some of the key pictures, starting from the start of Rocky Ridge Trail.
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