Rancho San Antonio County Park & Open Space

 

Located on the west of Cupertino, about 5 miles from the city center, Rancho San Antonio County Park & Open Space is indeed a neighborhood park no one would get tired of. It is 4,277 acres or 1731 公頃（hectare）or 67大安森林公園. This may not be a good comparison. Take Vasona Lake County Park for example, it is 843 acres. So I would say around 1000 acres is the norm for a county park, Rancho is above the norm. (If you asked Google Gemini, the answer is she could not find a good answer!)

The nice thing about Rancho is there are so many trails. Short ones and long ones. All depend on what you need. Today we took the short one about 4km, ~10k steps. From the parking lot, to Deer Hollow Farm, take Coyote trail, then Equestrian parking back to the parking lot.

The trail is nicely maintained. Some in the wooded areas, some in open space. You bump into people very often, but you can always find some moments alone.

There are good view points, esp. the PG&E trail. It is called PG&E trail becuase there are electricity towers along the trail and the utility company maintain their facility and the trails.

Parking lot view

South Bay View

Recently they changed the name to Stephen E. Abbors trail. But you still see the old name here and there.

On another day, we tried the High Meadow Trail. As the name suggested, there are uphills. But not too bad. On the top, there is a good view of the South Bay.

There is a bench where you can have snack while enjoying the view. High Meadow Trail is longer. We spent about 2 hours, one hour to the scenic point, and 45 min down.

Compared with Taiwan's hiking trails, it is much natural. There are just too many steps (wood, rock, bricks, you name it). Although I do appreciate those voluteers hand crafted some of the pavement and try to keep the nature the way it is. One nice thing about Taiwan's trails is you can always find good treats (food and drink) around the entrances!