Rancho Cañada Del Oro Open Space Preserve

This is not a park to go to if you don’t like to climb hills, but the trails are well groomed and critters abound. I’ve seen bobcat, deer, foxes and coyote, eagles, owls and plenty of scavengers like crows and turkey vultures too.
At this time of year it is bursting with wildflowers and it’s not too hot either.
Usually I am riding horseback and there are few mountain bikes and some hikers. On one of the main trails you climb up the ridge and can see sweeping vistas all around. Then you pass through a couple of cattle gates and you’re in the canyon. This is a lovely, lovely place.
If hills aren’t your thing there are some lower trails where you will see plenty of wildlife too, just not the views like at the top of Baldy Peak.
Oh, and did I mention this park is FREE? Yep, and they do night sky observations some evenings. Very cool.

Don’t let the «Beware of Mountain Lions» sign scare you away – this is a great Open Space Preserve with options for every skill level of hiker… and biker. The gf and I came across just as many mountain bikers (if not more) as hikers on the trail. We opted for the 4.1 mile loop since we’re building our stamina for longer stuff and set out on the voyage. There is a decent amount of elevation, great views, a lot of shade, and even some creeks along the way.
Parking was a breeze on a Sunday morning at 10. And the Preserve itself is very easy to get to. All around awesome experience.

We came back on Thanksgiving Sunday for long 4.1m hikes (750 feet climb). We started from Serpentine Loop trail near the parking lot) which is rather flat and wide in the first 0.5 miles. Continue towards Longwall Canyon Trail which does get slight incline and not very steep. The initial 1.5 miles is great for kids and plenty of deers, wild turkey and California newts when it rain.
The trail will eventually meet to a junction and keep left to continue to Mayfair Ranch Trail. The initial part of Mayfair Ranch Trail is very steep and slippery when wet. There are limited network coverage doing the trail anti-​clockwise but less strenuous. When you reached the top, there will be a picnic bench for a good rest and fuel up with snacks.
Animal you might see:
— Deer
— Wild turkeys
— Birds (lots of them)
— California newts (when it rain)
After the rest at the picnic bench, it is mostly downhill back to the car park. My favorite route is the anti-​clockwise since you start flat and then slow climb but it is long climb so you need to have good endurance. The downhill is fast and quick 30 minutes. Make sure you stop to enjoy the scenery and appreciate nature especially the Manzanita trees.
Rancho Cañada Del Oro Open Space Preserve is 5 stars because parking is free and not crowded even on weekend. The trail is well maintain and lots of things to see and explore. There are cellphone coverage on Mayfair trail when you are the top of the hill and plenty of caches for geo-​caching. We will be back in early Spring to see the flowers. Thansk Open Space Preserve.

I came here last Saturday night to watch the stars with the San Jose Astronomical Society. It was absolutely fantastic. The night sky view was breathtaking.

I have such mixed feelings about this place. I was born and raised out here and to see it turned into a «park» seems like some sort of sick joke. Part of me wants to be grateful that it hasn’t been developed into homes and such, but I see no reason for this area to be open to the public. The amount of people hiking around here are pushing the animals that live here further up the mountains (for example — mountain lions) behind it. Believe it or not, people live up there. My family still lives up there. Their lives and their animals lives are being put in danger thanks to this. All so people can go hiking.

I came here today with my park management class for the first time & I must say this place is beautiful! We took the long 6.2 mile hike which looped around the entire parking lot and back. The climb to the picnic area on the top was a bit challenging but definitely worth it! I do recommend that you wear waterproof shoes when you go on this hike because there are a few little streams that you would have to cross, I made the mistake by wearing regular hiking shoes so my socks were wet for the first 30 minutes of the hike (fail), also beware of the animals around there, I saw turkeys and deers today… SO CUTE!!!
Also, make sure you use the restroom before you go on the hike (they only have a 1 person single stall, porta-​potty style toilet, with hand sanitizer)
Overall, I give this place a 4 star, will I be back? You betcha butt I will & with waterproof shoes!

Went here for my birthday and it was beautiful! Tough… but beautiful! We went the route that went up hill to start off the hike with, on a mission to find a waterfall. We found one… a small one! OMG, I looked at it and thought… «That’s it?! That’s all I’mma get!?» We knew there was another one down the way, but decided not to go find it… good gosh, I was beat! Anyway, I would go again 8)

Hiked at Rancho Canada del Oro OSP on Sat 4÷3÷10 after the short hike at Coyote Ridge.
We did a short 4.3 mi loop hike starting at the FREE parking lot. There’s 1 pit toilet available.
Started on the Mayfair Ranch Trail that’s near the toilet up the ways. It goes up & up but pretty gradual. After a long while get to a picnic table. Pass Baldy Ryan Creek a bunch of times. Longwall Canyon Trail — down Serpentine Loop Trail back to car.
Lots of wildflowers:
Lupine
Blue Dicks
Poppies
Mule Ears
Shooting Stars
Baby Blue Eyes
Be aware: There’s ticks in the park. We saw at least 3 of them, they hang on long weed waiting for someone to brush against it.

This place is really a treasure.
Hidden in the southern end of San Jose, Rancho Canada Del Oro Open Space Preserve is a valuable resource of wild plant and animal life. Four major trails, the most accessable is the Mayfair Ranch trail, which takes you up up up to a beautiful meadow overlooking the lower areas of the park. Go up early and you might see cows grazing!
Meandering down to Baldy Ryan’s Creek, you then have a choice of heading through Calero County Park back to the Parking lot if you were looking for a short hike, or for the more adventurous, you can take Longwall Canyon to either Bald Peaks trail or Catamount trail. Longwall is definitely the much longer hike, with many twists and turns, but I think its definitely the more scenic one, and you’ll come across more wildlife (Turkey Vultures, Black Tailed Deer, and what I think were some geese were what I saw on my first hike) and plantlife (many California Laurels, Coast Live Oaks, and many many Manzanitas.)
Bald Peaks takes you up to a high place, where you can get a view out across the entire valley, watching the marches of both the Diablo range and the Santa Cruz mountains rushing northward to meet each other before the Bay. Sometimes pretty windy you might want to pack a small sweater or jacket for this part. At the begining of the trail from Longwall Canyon, there is a horse trough as well as a picnic table, a perfect place to take a short lunch and catch your breath.
in short, this is a really wonderful place. On the downside, while Rancho Canada Del Oro does allow bikes, part of the Catamount trail leading from Bald Peaks or from Mayfair Ranch leading to the parking lot cuts through Calero County Park, which doesn’t allow bikes… Bikers must go back the way they came through Mayfair to get back to where they started, I guess. No pets allowed, either.
Check it out! Make sure you’ve got alot of the day available. Closes at sunset.