Santa Teresa

Santa Teresa Park is a relatively small county park in South San Jose, and home of some excellent singletrack. It’s located right near the IBM Almaden Research Center, standing tall on the flanks of Coyote Peak, which is at 1155 feet the highest point of the park. A mix of fireroad and singletrack, some of it fairly rocky and technical, mostly winding along grass-covered hills. It gets hot here in the summer, and in the rainy season many of the lower-elevation trails are infested with adobe clay (the kind of mud that completely clogs your drivetrain in a matter of minutes); spring and fall are hence the best times to ride, with a nice display of wildflowers in early spring. The park is popular with equestrians and hikers,so watch out. The Stanford Cycling club hosts an annual mountain bike race weekend in the park, usually in fall.

This short 7.5 mile loop starts at the entrance near Fortini Road and combines a good workout with zipping down the nicest singletrack in the park. You ascend to Coyote Peak along Fortini and Rocky Ridge trail. Clearing the latter is quite a challenge – excellent stuff for fans of technical climbing. After you’ve reached the top, follow the fireroad to the summit of Coyote Peak and enjoy the views. Then turn around and retrace your steps; remember Rocky Ridge? In the downhill direction it’s a rocky rollercoaster, pure undiluted fun. Too soon you will hit Mine again, and instead of going back to Fortini take now a right at the short climb towards Stile Ranch trail. This is the second highlight of the ride, the descent back to your starting point, sporting some serious rock ledges and switchbacks that will also entertain the more experienced riders. Add more laps for more fun.