Completed: July 8, 2023 | Elevation: 1,253′ | Trail: Jones to Manzanita Loop Trail | Distance: 3.2 miles
Despite the outlook for warmer weather, we managed to complete a relatively easy hike not far from downtown Los Gatos.
The beneficial side effect of tackling the Nifty Ninety peaks, aside from exploring more of the Bay Area’s wonderful parks, has also been getting to visit other cities. We took this opportunity to start our day with breakfast at Los Gatos Cafe, a very popular and highly-rated restaurant located downtown. I opted for the soufflé omelette. Light and fluffy, it was probably one of the best omelettes I’ve had in a while.
Fueled up, we headed to St. Joseph’s Hill Open Space Preserve. While less than five miles away, the south bound traffic on Highway 17 turned what should have been an 8-minute drive closer to 20 minutes.
The Jones Trail trailhead is right across the street from the Lexington Reservoir County Park parking lot. We opted to park on the road across from the lot to avoid paying for parking.
Although I considered this an easy hike, that doesn’t mean there weren’t a few challenging spots. In fact, the trail starts out with a very short, aggressive climb before easing off. Fortunately, that was the hardest part.
From Jones we turned onto the Novitiate Trail. After 0.2 miles we turned onto the Manzanita Trail for the start of our counter-clockwise loop. We took the Serpentine Trail by-pass, which seemed like a more interesting route, before reconnecting again with Manzanita.
When we reached the top of St. Joseph’s Hill, it wasn’t immediately apparent that we were standing on one. It was a large, flat area, wooded on one side and opening up to views of Los Gatos on the other.
We walked past the bench and continued on Manzanita before meeting up with the Novitiate Trail. Going in this direction, we had nice views of the reservoir (and traffic). Eventually, we turned back onto Jones for our return to the car.
Follow our progress bagging the Bay Area’s Nifty Ninety here
Coda
It took us a little over an hour to complete this hike. A lot faster than I expected considering that we got “lost” because I thought we were somewhere completely different on the trail and had to walk back and forth several minutes to get our correct bearing on Google Maps.
This was also one of the busier hikes we encountered, packed with locals getting in their morning exercise. If I lived nearby I can see myself coming back, and even taking advantage of the reservoir to do some kayaking or paddling, which is what lots of people were doing. But considering where we actually live, it’s not likely that I’ll find myself in this park again.