Northern California - morgan hill/gilroy

hey i live in san jose and have been trying to find mountain bike trails around the area of gilroy and morgan hill. i have been by the mountains when driving down south, and was have been wanting to check that out.

so if anyone knows of any places that would be awesome.

Check out Coe State Park (http://coepark.org/)

I've never been there, but it's a huge park with lots of trails. The Norcal board on MTBR is a great place to find other ideas too.

I camped at Coe for a few days during spring break a couple of years back. My intention was to go mountain biking, but the roads were too steep for me. Others, more gnarly, were riding and having a great time. If you're a strong rider, you'll love it. If you're a wimp like me, you might not. I had to walk my bike up the steepest hills, then go down the other side, just as steep. After a long descent, realizing I was going to have to ride back up the same hill to get to my campsite, I stopped. I decided it was such a beautiful place that I should come back with my wife and hike the trails, rather than trying to bike them. I saw other bikers riding and doing fine, so don't let me scare you off.

Henry Coe is great if you like to climb. Usually decend down singletrack then climb the fire roads back to park HQ. Thing to rememeber is you decend first then have to climb back out. Fire roads can get torn up pretty bad if there is a fire in the area and fire fighting equipment has been using them.

good ol henry coe, yes i have done hiking around there and have ment to head out that direction for some mountain biking, are there set paths or can i just take any trails? cuase i have seen some places were you cannot bike (different park)


so nobody has seen anything else out in that area besids coe? my friend just said there is some place more for road biking near coyote sporting clays in morgan hill. you can go through the left side off of 101's mountains

Harvey Bear Ranch although not very large has some decent trails. My wife and I have ridden horses there several times (we have road bikes). Also, the Hunting Hollow entrance to Coe Park (down Gilroy Hot Springs Road) is very popular with the MTB crowd. A gentle ranch road out (crosses a creedk 12-14 times) followed by a climb to a nice ridge line and what can be a pretty neat descent. This part of Coe does connect with the main park so you can ride forever (Coe is more than 100,000 acres).

The main entrance to Coe is exactly as previously described. You drive up Dunne Ave. for 10-12 miles to the main entrance. Then you can ride your MTB or horse for a flat 1/4-1/2 mile at which point you drop like a rock. Very neat country, however.

Don't forget about Santa Teresa Park between Morgan Hill and San Jose. There are not tons of trails there but it is a fun place to ride for a few hours.

good ol henry coe, yes i have done hiking around there and have ment to head out that direction for some mountain biking, are there set paths or can i just take any trails? cuase i have seen some places were you cannot bike (different park)


so nobody has seen anything else out in that area besids coe? my friend just said there is some place more for road biking near coyote sporting clays in morgan hill. you can go through the left side off of 101's mountains

There are many great roads for road biking in this area, both to the west and east of 101. Gilroy hot springs road, Uvas/McKean+Oak Glen+Sycamore+Llagas+etc. Look up Tierra Bella put on by the almaden cycling club, its a yearly century plus less ride they put together on those roads.

There is also some trails at the park behind Calero(by the stables). Never ridden there, but I have friends that like it.

OMG! BigSean! Where have you been?

Is that you riding at the track in your avatar pic?

OMG! BigSean! Where have you been?

Is that you riding at the track in your avatar pic?
Been off the bike over the past year with injuries. Just started riding again about 10 days ago. Yep that was me on the track just prior to my injuries.