Sunday, May 4, 2014

Biking Almaden Quicksilver County Park

Today, I decided to try mountain biking at my nearby Almaden Quicksilver County Park in south San Jose.



The entrance to the park is pictured below.


I started at the Mockingbird Hill entrance (the park's Northern side) and took the Virl O Norton Trail, heading east toward the Hacienda trail. Norton Trail is very steep, and I had to walk my bike several times.

I shot a GoPro Hero4 Silver video here of my Almaden Quicksilver County Park ride:



The Norton trail eventually runs into the Hacienda trail. Although there are a lot of trails, few allow bicycles, making it easy to navigate.


From the Hacienda trail, I proceeded toward the Randolph trail. There are many beautiful overlooks of the surrounding valley.


At the end of the Randolph Trail is a beautiful overlook of the Guadalupe Reservoir. Even though we had lots of rainfall in San Jose, the reservoir looked primarily empty.


After the reservoir, the Randolph trail gets relatively steep for a few miles. I was huffing and puffing the whole way up.


It took me about 2.5 hours to bike around the park. It was excellent, and I especially appreciated the trees that give a lot of shade on these trails.

None of the trails were very technical (no jumping rocks), so it is an excellent beginner trail, except for some steep sections.



0 comments: