A bit off the beaten path for me (yet only 25 minutes away) – the Bald Hills Loop trail is a hilly, challenging hike in San Jose’s Calero County Park. I took a tip from the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) guide for wildflowers in the bay area and visited in early/mid-April. The grass, plants and trees were all still green and there were plenty of wildflowers (see below for photo carousel) and birds to be seen.

The hills get right up in your face quite quickly, which can make it a challenge for kids or people needing flatter surfaces. If you have hiking boots or sturdier shoes with good treads, this is the place to use them. A few bends in the trail and uphill stretches takes you to a small pond where people can fish and you can see starlings and Red-winged Blackbirds.

The wildflowers are found throughout the trail, so even if you can’t do the whole loop, you’d still be able to see a few varieties. Much of the trail is unimproved dirt road, which has a layer of fine dust in the most heavily trafficked spots (be mindful of wind gusts). The most picturesque and iconic wildflower meadows were located several miles into the trail and near the ridge lines, so I guess they make you work for that reward.

I saw many of the typical birds for the area: turkey vulture, hawks, quail, turkeys and acorn woodpecker. The turkey vultures surprised me by flying quite low and also going out together on patrol. I also heard various species that I wasn’t able to identify.

A few more logistics: cell service can be spotty – so you will want to download the trail map to your phone or print/bring a paper copy (there were some paper maps available at the trailhead but that might not always be the case). This Google Map was also helpful for recon. The main parking lot was a decent size but was getting a tad full at 10 AM on a Sunday. The temperature was cool to start and got a little warm (but not hot). Even so, I drained my two water bottles (56 oz total) in the 3 hours of hiking (plus time for snacks and taking photos).

The POST description of the trail said it was 8.4 miles and had 2010 feet of elevation gain, but my watch said I went around 10 miles with 1800 feet of elevation, which might account for a few short side explorations (but the elevation part is a mystery).

See the photo carousel below, which includes more wildflowers, a bat house (they called it an inn) and a few scenic views (with road facing northeast, with small lake facing southwest and with many trees and hills facing southeast.

Most of the trail is open to mountain bikes, so beware. All of the bikers I encountered were courteous and most often announced how many were in their party. One section of the Canada del Oro trail between Bald Peaks trail and Figueroa trail is quite narrow trail and has poison oak on both sides. I managed not to get itchy, but if you’re sensitive to poison oak you can also take the road in that same direction instead of the narrow trail.

* The wildflower names are my best-guesses 🙂 , some of which came from wildflowersearch.org