As you probably know by now, I have not long come back from my jaunts in California. In between my local walks and places to see, I will be sharing my trails and adventures from my trip. Today’s video is from my trip to Vasona Lake County Park in Los Gatos, California.
I had the morning to myself while Jit and his colleague visited Netflix to give a presentation. Luckily for me, I discovered that Vasona County Park was only a short walk away. So while they worked, I played, wandered and picnicked in the sunshine. I definitely got the best deal out of this one!
Netflix to Vasona County Park
After taking an Uber from Mountain View to Los Gatos and dropping the guys off at Netflix, I made my way to Vasona Lake. It wasn’t far, but my directions said that it would take me about 48 minutes to get there. Wasting no time, I headed out onto the main road and towards University Avenue. Although the sun was shining, it was pretty chilly, so getting up some speed was the perfect thing to get me warmed up.
After a short while walking along main roads, the pavement became a line dividing me from the traffic! It was pretty hairy at times with some large trucks zipping past quite close, but the prospect of what I neared kept me going. Could you resist hat sight?
The verge
One thing that I found surprising on my urban hikes around Mountain View Creeks and along the road in Los Gatos was the curious use of concrete ‘sand bags’ to build the walls. I noticed that they used the same things for the sides of the banks of the creeks. To be honest, I think they are really quite cool and could see them in my garden – if I needed a retaining wall of course.
Into Vasona Lake County Park
After about another 7 minutes or so on the road, I was crossing and turning into the park. The entrance is not obvious from the road and you have to hunt out the gap in the fence to get in. Once you’re in though, you’re in for a lovely treat even on the path down to the reservoir.
Autumn was definitely in full swing in Vasona County Park with the trees looking like flames. It was a little bit odd though as there were Christmas light decorations all over the place for their Fantasy of Lights display which is starting shortly. Many of the lights seemed to have an oldy worldy British style which made me laugh and included a Loch Ness Monster.
Lights aside, the colours and views to the mountains were amazing! I couldn’t stop looking everywhere, so needed to find somewhere to sit for a moment to take it all in. And seats are certainly not difficult to find in this park!
Exploring the Lake
After getting myself together, I set about exploring the lakeside. There is a solid path which is nice and easy to walk on and I met lots of older people and parents with buggies enjoying the walk easily too. It takes you under the trees and around the side of the lake towards the dam at the end of the reservoir. Like most of the trails that I explored, there you need to keep to your side of the road and announce passing – it all makes sense really and does keep the flow going better.
Lake views
Every so often between the trees you’ll glimpse the glistening water f the lake. It is a lovely way to spend your time as it is pretty quiet, friendly and you can get up close to the squirrels! (Don’t feed them, mind you, they have a good rule about keeping the wildlife wild here)
Going back
As you circle back around returning from the dam, I recommend walking up the hill as there are some seats up there and you get a lovely view of the lake and parkland. (It is where I found a lovely spot to film the intro for my video)
Los Gatos Creek trail
With plenty of time before I needed to have lunch or head back to meet the guys, I decided to take a look around the Los Gatos Creek trail. It takes you along the creek and under parts of the freeway which is quite exciting when you hear the cars and trucks rumbling over your head!
Something different
Something that stood out for me on so many of the trail walks that I did was how close they were to the highway, yet there was an awful lot of thought that when in when doing the planning. A lot of the concrete bases for the underpass areas were beautifully decorated.
Enjoying the memories
Considering Vasona Lake County Park is just one park, there is definitely enough to keep you entertained for at least a day! I hardly managed to dent the Los Gatos Creek Trail and there were more areas of the park left for me to wander when I had to leave. I would definitely recommend that you take a visit if you’re ever over that way. It is a beautiful spot, with stunning views and lots of walking to be done.
As I sit typing this in my chilly studio, I’m loving remembering the warm autumnal sunshine and long views to the mountains! Until next time, Vasona Lake County Park, I have our memories!
I do love looking back on my adventures, especially when there is sunshine, water and autumnal trees involved!
Back to reality though…
Have you been on any of the Bay Area Trails? Which ones?
What were your favourite parts of my adventure?
Let me know in the comments below.
