This unnamed summits lies on the west side of Coyote Valley and Morgan Hill in
the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mtns. There is a road leading to the summit to
make access pretty easy. Though it is on private property, there doesn't seem
to be much concern about visitors. There is a water tank and cell towers
on the top. A gate at the end of the pavement leaves the last hundred
yards to be done on foot up the dirt road. The homes in the
Woodland Acres area are upscale, no barking dogs from the homes near the
end of the road to disturb things. The top is actually for sale for a cool
$1M - no home, just an empty lot. There are nice views of Chesbro Reservoir
to the south and west just below the hill, set among
the scenery of this drier part of the range.
Rather than just drive out to Morgan Hill for the five minute hike, I made it
part of my bike & hike ™ series. It was about 55mi all told, taking
me almost 5hrs for the roundtrip. The last 600ft of pavement were too steep for
me to ride, so I had to walk that part. The rest of the ride was pretty
nice under blue skies with the fields in Coyote Valley and the
surrounding hills a brilliant green. On the way back I stopped at
Martial Cottle Park in South San
Jose because there's a PB "summit" there, the highpoint of the state
recreation area. The summit is non-existent since the park is completely flat,
but it still makes for a cool visit. It's a huge plot of land that had been
farmed for generations back when Silicon Valley was known as the Valley of
Hearts Delight. It is the largest undeveloped track of flat land in Silicon
Valley and they still do some farming there, even after it was gifted to the
citizens of Santa Clara County and became a CA state park. There is a nice
visitor center, picnic facilities, bike paths and a $6 fee for vehicles.
A nice way to spend a Sunday...