Sanborn County Park is a 3,453 acre (13.97 km2) county park situated in theSanta Cruz Mountains, managed by theSanta Clara County Parks and Recreation Department. The deeply forested park features over 15 miles of trails, second-growthredwoods, and creeks that flow year-round. It offers hiking, RV camping, walk-in campsites, and picnicking/BBQ sites. In the summer months, Sanborn County Park hosts the only outdoorShakespearean company[1] inSilicon Valley.
The park is located four miles west of the town ofSaratoga and straddles the steep slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains from Sanborn Road all the way up toSkyline Boulevard. Adjacent properties include the Walden West Environmental Education Center,Castle Rock State Park, the Los Altos Rod and Gun Club Range and the Santa Clara County Peace Officers Association gun range.
The park is open year-round, although there is no entry after sunset. Sanborn County Park is located on Sanborn Road. From the city of Saratoga, proceed two miles (3 km) west onHighway 9 to Sanborn Road, thence turning left onto Sanborn Road, traveling one mile (1.6 km) to the park entrance. Overnight camping is permitted andRV use is allowed for a limited number ofvehicles at designated locations. Pets must be leashed and are permitted inpicnic and RV areas, and most trails.[2] There are entry fees collected at all times. There are strictly enforced rules prohibiting the picking of vegetation or damaging of trees. All facilities are not handicapped accessible, although there is an all-access trail emanating from the visitor center. Picnic tables and some grassy lawn areas are available in a very small portion of the park.
The site was long-visited bynative Americans including theOhlone people as evidenced by thegrinding slab which forms half of the entry gate of to the rustic mansion on site. This log-style house was built in 1908 by the Honorable James R. Welch, Superior Court Judge forSanta Clara County as a summer retreat for his family. The judge added orchards and modified asag pond into a decorative pond with a waterfall. In the 1956 the property was purchased by "America's Uranium King", Vernon J. Pick, who established a 200-person electronics company on site[3] and named it Walden West after the cabin by a pond inHenry David Thoreau's bookWalden.
Sanborn County Park was purchased in the late 1970s in an expansionary era of theSanta Clara County Parks and Recreation Department under the leadership of Robert Amery and Charles Rockwell. A series of land acquisitions throughout the county, with the intention to develop a greatly expanded set of county parks emphasizing large land area and low intensity uses. The Sanborn County Parkmaster plan was developed in this era.[4] The county retainedEarth Metrics Inc. to prepare anEnvironmental Impact Report (EIR) for the land use change, pursuant to requirements of theCalifornia Environmental Quality Act. Fairly soon thereafter the CountyBoard of Supervisors approved the park plan and began development of necessary road and trail improvements.
From 1976 to 2010 the main house was the site of theSanborn Park Hostel, entirely renovated by volunteers, which was proud to charge the lowest rate of anyhostel in the United States ($14/night at the time of closing).[5] The hostel was forced to close in the face of increasing insurance costs and reduced international travel after9/11.
Opened in 1982, theYouth Science Institute - Sanborn Science and Nature Center is a science and nature education facility operated by the Youth Science Institute. The center features live animals found in theSanta Cruz Mountains,earthquake andgeology exhibits, anarthropod zoo and a regional plant garden. The center offers nature and science school and group programs, after-school science and summer camp programs. The center hosts an annual Insect Fair in May.
Exposed on the steep canyon eastern slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Sanborn County Park has one of the coolest summer climates of Santa Clara County's parks. Towering redwood forests add to this eastern slope exposure in keeping hikingtrails comfortable in the heavy use period, from June to September; moreover, there are abundantmixed forest locales havingCoast live oak,Pacific madrone,Big leaf maple andTanbark oak.
The park features the first segment of the regionalBay Area Ridge Trail in Santa Clara County, which extends along the ridge of the Santa Cruz Mountains to become theSkyline-to-the-Sea Trail, which continues to thePacific Ocean. This Bay Area Ridge Trail ultimately circumnavigates the entire Bay Area at a length of 500 miles (800 km). The Sanborn and San Andreas trails ascend the eastern mountain slope, eventually joining theCactus to Clouds Trail (AKA Skyline Trail) andSkyline Boulevard. Summit Rock, which is an establishedrock-climbing venue offers apanoramic outlook over Saratoga and the South Bay, lies at the upper limit of the park, but is readily reached from the Skyline Boulevard side.
At the southeastern corner of Sanborn County Park sits Lake Ranch Reservoir, an attractive tiny mountain lake, accessible via either a steep canyon trail at the terminus of Sanborn Road, or by way of a longer, more level trail originating at Black Road. The latter trail, which sinuates high up along the flanks of Lyndon Canyon, is a lightly used trail, but extremely lush and forested; it crosses numerous smallriparian zones, whose creeks tumble into the steep-sided canyon, originally formed by theSan Andreas Fault. Shorter, less strenuous trails extend through the redwood stands and along creeksides within the lower reaches of Sanborn County Park.
Besides the treespecies noted above, the park contains a variety of native plants, first surveyed in the Earth Metrics EIR. Examples of thisflora are:
TheSan Andreas Fault runs directly under the park. The entrance station and main parking lots are on theNorth American Plate. As you walk uphill across the broad sloping lawn you are crossing thefault zone. The fault is not visible below your feet as it is covered by analluvial fan of material that have eroded from the mountain. Once you reach the kiosk at the bottom of the campsite path you have crossed over to thePacific Plate. In terms offault blocks you parked the car on theNew Almaden Block which featured rocks of theFranciscan Complex. You are now standing on theSalinian Block which features sandstones of theVaqueros andSan Lorenzo formations.
Subtle evidence for earthquake activity may be found at numerous locations within the park as described in USGS publication "Where's the San Andreas Fault? A Guidebook to Tracing the Fault on Public Lands in the San Francisco Bay Region", chapters 5 and 6.[6] The guide shows where to spot evidence ofoffset drainages,fault scarps,stream capture,shutter ridges, andsag ponds as you venture through the park.
37°14′30″N122°5′15″W / 37.24167°N 122.08750°W /37.24167; -122.08750
