Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve Mt Umunhum Entrance

Ride your bike to this vista in the sky that shows how close we are to such beauty. Love that the mt top will be reopened soon but meanwhile there is a bathroom and large parking lot. Not sure that big of a slab of asphalt is needed up there but ride your bike rather than drive a car!

Came up here early morning because it was supposed to be a hot day and don’t want to be sweltering in the heat knowing that the hiking trail isn’t shaded for the most part.
From the park entrance we took the Hicks Road to the junction where it meets Woods Trail and Barlow Road which was 2.7 miles each way.
Hicks Road, which starts from the Mt. Umunhum entrance, is a wide fire road with fairly evenly-​distributed dirt and pebble surfaces so it’s great for runners, large groups and horses. In terms of sun and shade, I would say it was about ⁵⁰⁄₅₀. It was not crowded with gradual turn and interesting change in elevation and expansive views along the way.
The only thing I don’t like about it is that the trail was not a looping one. I prefer not to return on the same path but I did enjoyed the hike and getting to see the historical radar station that looks like a white cube sitting on top of the mountain.

The game has changed, yo. This is our city, alright? All of it. The whole damn place. Our territory. We’re staking our claim. Yo, we sell when we want, where we want. We’re gonna be kings, understand? Well, I’m gonna be king and you guys will be, like, princes or dukes or something — Jesse Pinkman, Breaking Bad episode «Negro Y Azul» 2009
As it syas on the website: Overlooking the town of Los Gatos and the south bay, Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve is the District’s largest preserve, encompassing over 18,000 acres of mostly rugged and steep terrain.
I accessed the park recently from the Mt. Umunhum entrance and by adding in the beautiful views at Bald Mtn (my pictures may say Baker. Oops), I did an 8 mile, 2,000 elevation loop in just about three hours. If you don’t stop and take dozens of picture you can do it even faster :)
My loop was Woods Trail to Barlow Rd to Mt. Umunhum to the Bald Mountain offshoot, back to Mt. Umunhum Rd back to parking lot. There are plenty of other trails to make this go for more mileage or higher elevation (you do pass 2,999 ft Mt. El Sombroso on the Woods Trail). The loop was your standard oak and sagebrush with great views similar to Almaden, Rancho San Antonio, Santa Teresa, etc. However, what sets this trail apart are the stunning 180 degree plus views you get on Bald Mtn. That’s the money shot! My photos do not do it justice and my best panoramic cannot be loaded onto Unilocal.For those who just want to see Bald Mtn, you can park close by and walk in; 1.5 mile round trip.
Dogs are not allowed on Bald Mtn but of course as my photo shows, some people don’t read stinkin signs! I love dogs, but, sometimes dog lovers get annoying with the entitlement (except Glenn G. Both him and his dog are super cool.)
So highly recommended! A solid workout hike but nothing too demanding. Beautiful views from North/​West/​East San Jose all the way out to Morgan Hill and Gilroy give this an added dimension a lot of the similar foothill hikes do not have.
Small parking lot was almost full just before 10 when I pulled in. A few cars parked on the road ended up getting tickets so be careful where you park if not in lot.
Highly recommended!

Back to nature. I was completely unaware of my location except I’m somewhere in San Jose. There were curved roads that took you higher in elevation. My bf and I came here to meet his parents and family friends up for a day to spend at Mt. Umunhum. The gps will take you here. I saw a few cars parked in a parking lot and it seems like that was the starting point for hiking. And as we drove higher, I saw a few cyclists challenging themselves up the slope. Watch out for bikers and oncoming cars. There’s a point where it’s fenced off at the top, because at that point, it’s privately owned. Bikers can hop over it but there are more gates at the top, and it’ll be trespassing. We spent the day playing with the dogs and mingling. I didn’t wear enough layers for the activities we did, will be more prepared in the winter next time haha.
They are trying to restore everything back to nature, like removing pavement roads and stairways. Really serene.

I’m not sure if this entrance is a good secret or if it’s well known but just too far out for most people, but I’ve really enjoyed the time I spent at Sierra Azul from the Mt. Umunhum entrance.
There’s a few options from the start. You can immediately hike into the woods or you can drive a bit further along the road to where it ends. If you drive up, there’s a .5 mile or slightly less hike to the top of Bald Mountain, which offers a great view of the South Bay and more. In winter in the right weather I could barely make out Oakland and SF, but if you go on a summer day the better views will be away from the haze of the bay.
If you decide to hike from the parking lot, there’s an easy trail along the little Guadalupe River. The flora is what you’d expect from this side of the Santa Cruz mountains but it’s quite beautiful.
This is a good place to go if you like hiking without a lot of other people around and want to see the South Bay from a different perspective.

Start from the parking lot on the wood fire road, Woods Trail (gate SA06). Woods Trail starts off pretty easy, but once we took the Bay Area Ridge Trail it became a bit harder. It was a lot of incline. This trail is not used a lot, we didn’t see a single soul until we reached Barlow Road which takes you to the actual site of Mt. Umunhum, we finally saw a couple. They told us that they just saw a park ranger who informed them not to go past the trespassing sign because he just cited two boys who went beyond the signs. Apparently there are cameras so watch out. I gave it four because we were unable to see the actual location of Mt. Umunhum and scenery wasn’t all that spectacular, tho it was very quiet and peaceful. Barlow Road tooks us back to the parking lot. All down hill there. Watch out for cars and cyclists. The whole route took us 2 ½ hrs which was about 8 miles.