Sierra Vista Open Space Preserve is a 1,678-acre nature preserve in the eastern foothills of

Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259 as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County form the ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The preserve is managed by the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority and was opened to public in 2002. The only access to the preserve had been from

Alum Rock Park Alum Rock Park, in the Alum Rock, San Jose, Alum Rock district of San Jose, California, San Jose, California, is California's oldest municipal park, established in 1872 but serving as public land since the pueblo was established in 1777. Located ...

until 2014, when a new parking lot and trailhead opened along Sierra Road.

Ecology

There are

oak woodland An oak woodland is a plant community with a tree canopy dominated by oaks (''Quercus spp.''). In terms of canopy closure, oak woodlands are intermediate between oak savanna, which is more open, and oak forest, which is more closed. Although the c ...

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...

, and rolling grasslands. It is home to a number of protected wildlife species, including the red-legged frog,

California tiger salamander The California tiger salamander (''Ambystoma californiense'') is a vulnerable amphibian native to California. It is a mole salamander. Previously considered to be a subspecies of the tiger salamander (''A. tigrinum)'', the California tiger sala ...

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of pr ...

mountain lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the wildcat, bay lynx, or red lynx, is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus '' Lynx''. Native to North America, it ranges from southern Canada through most of the c ...

, and

grey fox The gray fox (''Urocyon cinereoargenteus''), or grey fox, is an omnivorous mammal of the family Canidae, widespread throughout North America and Central America. This species and its only congener, the diminutive island fox (''Urocyon littoral ...

. It provides watershed protection for

Penitencia Creek Upper Penitencia Creek is actually one of two creeks by the name Penitencia Creek in the northeastern Santa Clara Valley of Santa Clara County, California. They are both tributaries of Coyote Creek. The upper creek was diverted southwestward, ...

Trails

There are over 10 miles of trails in the preserve. There are 6.7 miles of trail as a part of the

Bay Area Ridge Trail The Bay Area Ridge Trail (shortened as Ridge Trail) is a multi-use trail along the hill and mountain ridgelines surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area, in Northern California. It is planned to extend ; , have been established. When complete, ...

. The 3-mile Boccardo Loop Trail is the first trail opened by Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority. The 2-mile Sierra Vista Trail, connects the trails in the western preserve with the eastern preserve trail system. It is a part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail. The 4.5-mile Calaveras Fault Trail extends from the Sierra Vista trail and Sierra Road entrance gate to the

drainage.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.openspaceauthority.org/preserves/sierra.html
Sierra Vista Trail Map
Nature reserves in California Protected areas of Santa Clara County, California