Completed: May 12, 2024 | Elevation: 2,281′ | Trail: Water Tank Trail > Center Flats Road > Hersman Pond Trail > Kaiser Aetna Road | Distance: ~3-mile loop
From Gilroy it was a 47-mile drive through the Pacheco Pass to the Dowdy Ranch entrance of Henry Coe State Park. This visitor center isn’t always open and we lucked out because it had just opened for the season the day before we arrived. It’s also the closest entrance to use for a short hike to Burra Burra Peak.
We turned into the park and drove along a dirt road that wound through the hills and along a ridge. Fog filled the valleys and you really got a sense of the vastness and remoteness of the area.
As we were driving, I saw my first wild pigs, a family of four adults with several piglets, rooting around on the hillside.
When we pulled into the lot around 8:40 A.M. a few other cars were already there. After paying our $7 fee (senior discount, otherwise it’s $8), we headed out on the Water Tank Trail which starts right in front of the visitor center. This first section was a well-maintained dirt track that ended on Kaiser Aetna Road. We walked on the main road until we saw the sign on our right for Burra Burra Trail.
While not as poorly maintained as Bills Hill Trail, which involved walking through a lot of tall grass and weed, we did hit a section, as we got closer to the East Peak, where we lost the trail and had to use GPS to reorient ourselves. Luckily, we came upon a sign and followed a short, steep trail to the top.
At the peak we found a container with a logbook that someone had recently left. It was nice to see that others had been up this way; in fact, a hiker had been here yesterday. We made our entry, enjoyed the views and then continued on our way.
As we were hiking, it was clear that pigs were very active in the area. Large portions of the trail on either side had potholes and churned up dirt . We came across an area and found the telltale signs of what they were digging up: some kind of wild onion or garlic.
We eventually came to a sign for the Dormida Trail, but stayed straight on a faint trail marked by trampled grass to reach Center Flats Road.
From here it was an easy walk to Hersman Pond Trail, which cut off about 0.2 miles. Once back on Kaiser Aetna Road, it was a short hike back to the entrance.
Leaving the park, a group of wild pigs ran across the road and under the fence. It may have been the same sounder I saw when coming in. They are cute from a distance, especially the piglets, but such destructive animals. I’ve never encountered them while hiking but have often seen signs of them.
Since we had to drive back towards Gilroy, we decided to stop at BBQ 152 again (this had nothing do to with the fact that we had seen a bunch of wild pigs earlier). We had dinner there yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed the pulled pork, berry bleu salad and slice of rhubarb pie with ice cream – a delicious and well-deserved meal after a long hike to Bills Hill. This time we tried the burnt ends, which they had sold out of the night before. So good! Some of the best BBQ I’ve had.
It had been a fun weekend filled with unforgettable experiences, like seeing the aurora borealis for the first time and conquering another two peaks. With more hikes left in Henry Coe, who knows what other adventures await us in this part of the Bay Area.
Follow our progress bagging the Bay Area’s Nifty Ninety here.