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Stretching from Morgan Hill up to the southern extent of the San Francisco Bay, the Coyote Creek Trail is one of the longest trails in San Jose. The 26.9 miles of trail exist in three main segments, with additional shorter segments.
The trail segments are as follows: Morning Star Dr. (Morgan Hill) to Tully Community Ballfields (San Jose), Basking Ridge Ave. (San Jose) to Silicon Valley Blvd (San Jose), Kelley Park (San Jose) to Selma Olinder Park (San Jose), Berryessa Rd. (San Jose) to Chessington Dr. (San Jose), Old Oakland Rd. (San Jose) to Pear Orchard Dr. (San Jose), Montague Expressway (San Jose) to CA 237 (Milpitas), Alviso Milpitas Rd. (Milpitas) to N McCarthy Blvd. (Milpitas).
About the Route
Leaving from the southern endpoint of the trail at the intersection of Morning Star and Eagle View Drives, a couple hundred feet from the Coyote Creek Visitor Center at Anderson Lake County Park, where parking is available. This longest segment of completed trail—at approximately 18.7 miles—heads north and soon parallels its namesake waterway. There is a parallel foot/equestrian trail for the next half mile until Burnett Avenue, where riders will find a staging area and the beginning of an equestrian trail.
Watch out for hobbyists flying model airplanes as the trail passes the Santa Clara County Model Aircraft Skypark. At Ogier Ponds, trail users can spy a rich diversity of birdlife and perhaps even catch a few birds as the trail passes the Coyote Creek Golf Club. Following the club is the Tamienne Monument, a trailside plaque inscribed in binary code that marks the center of the Santa Clara Valley. Immediately following the monument, south of Metcalf Road, the equestrian trail comes to an end. The trail passes Metcalf Park, after which the trail becomes more urban as it enters the southern reaches of the city of San Jose, though it remains largely riparian. After Hellyer County Park, continue another 2.5 miles to Tully Road.
To reach the second, 2-mile trail segment, turn right onto Tully Road and then left onto Lucretia Avenue, with its well-marked bike lanes. In 0.8 miles, turn left onto Phelan Avenue and pick the trail up again in about 0.1 mile at Roberts Avenue. This portion of the trail, which opened in 2021, traverses Kelley Park, where it connects to the nearby Happy Hollow Park & Zoo during park hours by way of the arcing Bent Bridge. Cross Story Road to continue along the trail, passing under a historical railway trestle (closed to the public) and through Selma Olinder and William Street Parks to where this segment ends at East William Street.
The northernmost, 4.9-mile section technically leaves off from Montague Expressway but is not directly accessible until another 0.4 miles north, at Iris Chang Park. The trail continues along a crushed-stone pathway atop a levee above the southwestern bank of Coyote Creek next to a residential area. The trail soon changes back to asphalt and meets the Highway 237 Bikeway at the Southbay Freeway/CA 237. Merge right onto the trail and turn left to cross at McCarthy Boulevard, where the trail picks up again to the left, off Ranch Drive. The pathway continues north through an industrial area to North McCarthy Boulevard.
Connections
At the northern end of the trail, trail users can connect to the Highway 237 Bikeway and the San Francisco Bay Trail.
The Coyote Creek trail runs between Morning Star Dr. (Morgan Hill) and N McCarthy Blvd. (Milpitas).
Parking is available at:
The VTA bus system provides access to the trail at several places along the route.
See TrailLink Map for all parking options and detailed directions.
I did this ride on Sunday afternoon, September 8, 2924, in 102 degrees. No joke. Must explain why it wasn’t very busy. I started at Anderson Lake County Park in Morgan Hill and went to Tully Road, just past the golf course south of downtown San Jose, and then turned around and returned to the park—40 miles, 1,190 feet elevation gain. Well maintained, all paved, relatively flat, and interesting trail with SO many squirrels and chipmunks dashing across the trail. Probably just playing with the bikers. Saw a flock of young turkeys on the trail. A hawk zipped close by me and tried to grab a rodent (missed). Lots of waterfowl in the ponds along the way. Vegetation became greener the further north I went from Morgan Hill, and more water in Coyote Creek. Saw coyote scat on the trail but no animals (too hot for them). There are several homeless campsites near the golf course, and even a rooster and cats and dogs. Overall, a great trail to see the arid landscape of the Santa Clara Valley (I live in the Pacific Northwest). Will plan to do it again in the springtime when it’s greener and not so hot, when I visit relatives again.
Trail is nice and well maintained but in the broad daylight, kind of shady with a considerable presence of homeless people by the Tully trailhead. Even carrying pepper spray, as a smaller young woman I felt kind of unsafe and was approached. The northern part of the trail (passes by a bunch of Amazon warehouses) does not have this issue but the stretch is much shorter. Would not come back here alone, or maybe at all. It’s a shame,because the trail itself is great, mostly flat, and scenic. Too Bad s
I've mostly ridden the section between Hellyer Park and the Coyote Creek visitor center / Malaguerra Ave (great free parking). A superb ride with far less traffic than the Los Gatos trail. A couple of weeks ago I parked at the Tully Rd lot and took it south. I was a little creeped out about leaving my truck there and the number of homeless encampments from Tully south about a mile. I won't do that again. Another good parking place is the free dirt lot "Coyote Creek Trail Parking at Metcalf" on google maps.
Riders and walkers be on ALERT!!!! Encountered two rattlesnakes on the trail but love all 44 miles of the trail. Great trail to disconnect from the urban concrete streets of San Jose. Oh yeah, nature at its BEST!!
I have ridden this trail three times. Each time has been a great experience! This afternoon, I stopped in at coyote creek golf course for lunch and it was great! I enjoy watching the r/c airplanes and love going to Anderson reservoir at the end. It’s a great ride and can’t wait for winter!
My husband and I biked from MetCalf Park going south to the end of the trail by Morgan Hill, it’s about 10 miles each way. We enjoyed the ride very much because it is easy, less crowded, beautiful scenery and nó homeless.
Someone needs to maintain the event calendar--it says no events, but there was an organised marathon last weekend. There were tons of runners--it's safe, paved, etc. It would be nice to get one or two additional locations for restroom/water. I've been using this trail for 30 years, and it's nice to see that it gets appreciated by regular use (which also keeps it safe!)
I have been using the trail between Heller Park to Anderson lake for a few years now. This stretch (15 miles of it) is very safe, you can see families biking/running/walking. Trail is shaded and beautiful, you can spot deer regularly. With Coyote creek itself flowing with with lots of water - the trails is amazingly beautiful.
I headed to this trail this past weekend based on the reviews that it was the nicer and safer trail in the area. I arrived at the trail head to find police activity. They were encouraging a number of homeless to move on. I asked if it was safe to run, and they said it probably would be if I stayed alert, but they recommended another trail that they felt would be safer. They encouraged me to go to Las Gatos Creek trail instead.
I ran on the northern section while visiting the area on business. The trail is flat, paved, and quite nice. I saw some geese and a crane around the trail. The trail had squished snails and geese poop, but not an overwhelming amount. Seems like the trail could be extended further,but it's nice for its small section.
Easy and convenient
Comfortably uncrowded and sufficiently shady for a weekday morning at the end of July. We only did a 2 mile stretch, but it was gorgeous, totally paved, pretty much flat. I look forward to coming back again next week. I last did this trail 30 years ago! Then it was narrow and unpaved.
First, this trail is NOT disconnected, as a previous review claims. It has an occasional awkward link, but those are few and far between. I rode this trail from end to end and back today. It was a great ride. Of course, it is not perfect. There is an occasional rough patch that may rattle the rider at speed, but it is still great. You can't "race" through the more heavily used sections of the trail. The 15mph limit is reasonable when you are sharing with joggers and family hikers; but, for the long distance riders, you will have many miles to yourself, and you can (carefully) get up some speed. This trail is a wonderful resourse! For several years I biked from Gilroy to SJ using Santa Teresa or Monterey, dodging and battling moron motorists for 25 miles. Then, hallelujah! I discovered this trail! Using the Coyote Creek Trail, a cyclist can travel from South County to SJ in unmolested peace. And the scenery is nice too!
We drive to Eagle View Drive and do the trail from that end with our two kids (8 and 11). It's not disconnected. The sites are wonderful. It's mostly flat and fully paved and we were able to do about 10mi round trip with the kids and they simply loved it. No traffic and wide path. Nothing to worry about. There is a restroom right at the beginning where you park the car.
Great trail that can be entered in San Jose, or Morgan Hill. It's a peaceful run through fields. Sad that there's no water in the creek, but it's a great place to run if you want to mix it up.
Like most of San Jose's trails, this one is broken and disconnected, leaving you to defend yourself on the surface streets to get through town.
Great trail!
Saw several isolated ponds teaming with fish and turtles, But go see them soon because as long as the dam doesn't let any water out all these little creatures will die(I give them 1 more week before they deplete the oxygen in the ponds). The sections between the ponds are bone dry making a nice trail to walk down but watch out for the Poison Oak.
I have a video which tells you the tale of my hiking experience. Hopefully, someone will see this video and help clean up the mess.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VNimJNfHN4&feature=youtu.be
Coyote Creek trail is a very good early season warm up trail for all levels of riders. There is very little elevation change so it makes for a good run to get the legs moving again after a winter layoff. It is also a great ride for a family. It is not heavil;y traveled but you will encounter in-line skates and some joggers. But I highly recommend it.
"Have done a good bit of the northern end of this trail and look forward to doing the rest soon. It's a delightfully diverse trail, going from park to fields to woods, by a stream, thru some housing areas and thru an old plum orchard. (Yum!) As it says, many access points and not much traffic. a great trail."
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