Calero / Canada del Oro / Sierra Azul
Check out horse country, just a few minutes from the busy neighborhoods of San Jose. At these huge parks, you can live large, with boating on the lake, fishing, hiking over expansive grassy bluffs or through long oak tree corridors, or visiting with horses that live at Calero.
- Attractions
- Calero has a large lake with fishing and boating options. Come in the Spring or Fall when water levels are high.
- No additional fishing fee for minors (under 16)
- Calero has horse boarding, so it’s easy to see horses using the trails or grazing across from the parking lot. Visitors are restricted from entering the stable area, but everytime we have visited, we have been encouraged to visit one or more horses, by their handlers.
- This park has lovely rolling hills of grasses.
- The pond is a great place to see Gall Balls (from the oak at the pond’s platform), red winged blackbirds, and dragonflies.
- This park is packed with dry-weather life, including rattlesnakes, lizards, gopher snakes, and beetles.
- The shady corridor along Calero Creek is lovely.
- There is always a fine layer of dirt atop the trails, which is perfect for a break to dig with little trucks (on the side, of course).
- Limitations
- Watch out for poison oak.
- Stay on the trail to avoid ticks.
- Keep an eye out for rattle snakes, which like to sun themselves on stumps, rocks, and the trail.
- Access
- Handicapped people can take a nice roll around the parking lot at the end of Casa Loma Road, but the hills on the trails may be restrictive for wheelchairs.
- Recommended Routes
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Route | Distance | Surface | Transport | Terrain | Facilities | Extras |