Santa Teresa County Park is a 1,673-acre Santa Clara County park in the Santa Teresa Hills of south San Jose. Most of it is non-native grassland and mixed oak woodland. Wikipedia says native wildflowers often bloom on serpentine soils in the northwest and south of the park in late winter and early spring. More than 17 miles of unpaved trails are open to hikers, cyclists and horse riders, and some trails near Coyote Peak are steep.
Ways in
The main entrance is a large parking lot at the Pueblo Day Use Area, reached by Bernal Road. It has group and family picnic areas, and there is a vehicle entry fee. Other entrances are at the Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch in the northwest, off Avenida España in the northeast, and at Stile Ranch from Almaden Valley. The park also has an 18-hole golf course run by a concessionaire and an archery range.
A loop from the ranch
The hiking blog Pedalogue describes a 7.3-mile loop with about 1,400 feet of climbing. It starts at the Joice Trail in the Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch historic area on Manila Drive, where there are restrooms and paper maps. The route links the Joice, Norred, Mine, Fortini, Stile Ranch, Bernal Hill and Vista Loop trails. The writer found the route mostly exposed, with few shaded stretches and no picnic tables along the way. The Fortini Trailhead at the south end has roadside parking but no restroom.
History
Wikipedia says the county parks department received the land for the park from IBM in 1980. IBM had bought the land from the Joice family for what became its Almaden Research Center, which was built in 1985 just outside the park boundary.
For a larger South County park, see our Mount Madonna guide.