Last weekend I drove over the east San Jose foothills to Joseph D. Grant County Park. Grant park is a wonderful place to hike and to bike. It isn’t very crowed, and this time of year the weather is pleasant – not too hot like it gets in the summer time. Grant is a place where there is no shortage of lakes, cows or wild boars.
You get to Grant from South San Jose by taking Quimby Avenue east, and then just keep going up over the winding roads in the foothills and down to Mount Hamilton Road. This is not a route you want to take in an RV, as the turns are sharp and the two way road gets quite narrow at points. Once you reach Mt. Hamilton Road turn right and then you will turn right again into the main park entrance. You will need to purchase a $5 parking permit at the machine. Here is a link to a Mapquest map to Grant Park. After purchasing my permit, I drove about a 1/4 mile east on Mt. Hamilton Road, parking in the lot on the left side near Grant Lake.
From the parking lot I set out on the trail along the edge of the lake. The first thing I noticed was a sign warning about mountain lions. While I haven’t seen any myself, I have seen tracks in other south bay parks and I know it is wise to always be attentive.
The lake is a great place to observe water fowl, including ducks, coots, geese, and cranes. The follow picture shows a view of the lake from near the parking lot.
Continuing down the trail you will not an small island. It is common to see cranes along the edges of the island.
I noticed a couple of people fishing on the shores of the lake. Below is the view from the far end.
After reaching the end of the lake I walked back towards the parking lot and then turned up the Yerba Buena trail heading towards McCreery lake. McCreery lake is rather small – more like a large pond than a lake, but picturesque.
After visiting McCreery lake I hiked back down the Yerba Buena trail, and crossed Mt. Hamilton Rd. to get to the Hotel trail. From here you have great views of the Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton. You will also see lot’s of cows.
Next week I’m planning on a more extensive hike in Grant County Park, taking the Hotel Trail up to Bass Lake