Completed: May 11, 2024 | Elevation: 1’988 | Trail: Hunting Hollow Road to Bills Hill Trail | Distance: 7.4 miles (out and back)
We managed to arrive at the Hunting Hollow entrance around 7:45 A.M., thanks to the 10-minute drive from Coyote Lake, where we had camped last night and seen the aurora borealis.
The air was still cool but heating up fast. Fortunately, the first two miles of Hunting Hollow Road was easy – flat and wide – and we reached the turn-off for Bills Hill Trail in less than an hour. It was a pleasant warm-up for what was to come.
While Hunting Hollow is clearly well-traveled, Bills Hills Trail looked like no one had been on it in a long time. Thank goodness for the sign post as there was no visible path. It wasn’t until we walked into the understory that a trail emerged, and took us up a small hill and down to a ravine, which we were able to easily clear. Soon after, the trail ended, and we found ourselves in a field of tall grass and wildflowers. Good thing I had AllTrails! We bushwhacked through the grass and navigated our way to the ridge on our right. Now our steady ascent began. After making our way through more grass we eventually got back on a wide trail that exited the forest and ended at Osos Ridge.
Bills Hill was to our left. There was no trail so we walked along the fence for about half a mile before we reached an area where it looked like we could crawl under it. On the other side was a trail—I wonder if this had been part of the park at one point—and we followed it to the top of Bills Hill. It was an unremarkable peak, but it afforded nice views of the park and Gilroy in the distance.
The hike itself wasn’t really hard, but wading through the tall grass slowed us down. Not being able to see the ground meant walking more cautiously to avoid holes and other hidden hazards. We were happy when we finally came back onto Hunting Hollow Road.
Heading to the car, I verified thirteen water crossings. None were difficult but some had faster-moving and deeper water. They made the otherwise flat trail more interesting. The hike had taken us about 3 hours and 45 minutes.
Back at camp, we had just enough time to make breakfast and then pack up all our gear before the 1:00 P.M. check-out time. We drove to Gilroy where we spent the night in order to easily access another peak in Henry Coe the next day: the hike to Burra Burra.
Follow our progress bagging the Bay Area’s Nifty Ninety here.