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Vasona County Park
By Rob Lehman — published January 01, 2008
Tucked in the bustle of metropolitan Silicon Valley, 150-acre Vasona County Park in Los Gatos is a riparian respite from the city, both for people and for countless birds. The park, which sits on Los Gatos Creek, includes Vasona Reservoir and connects to Los Gatos Creek Trail, which runs from Lexington Reservoir to downtown San Jose. Each winter and spring, great blue herons nest in the eucalyptus trees here. Trails wind through lush areas along the creek and lake, home to mallards, egrets, red-winged blackbirds, pied-billed grebes, and even muskrats and pond turtles.
At the north end of the park, the Youth Science Institute offers classes and outings, as well as exhibits with live animals from the Guadalupe Watershed and a nature trail focused on Northern California native plants. Vasona Park also has historic significance; the first adobe settlement in the Los Gatos area was built here, though no sign of it remains today. And before the turn of the last century, the narrow-gauge South Pacific Coast Railroad traversed the park, later to be replaced by the standard-gauge tracks of the Southern Pacific Railroad.
Getting there: The park entrance is on Blossom Hill Road in Los Gatos. From Highway 17 traveling south, take the Lark Avenue exit and travel east. Turn right on Los Gatos Boulevard and right again onto Blossom Hill Road. Walk-in entrances are located on Garden Hill Drive and University.
This article is part of our "On the Trail" series, which highlights a particular park or trail you can visit.
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