Stile
Ranch Trail,
IBM easement,
Santa Clara County
In brief:
2.6 mile loop through IBM easement and Santa Teresa County Park. Exceptional native
flowers blooming throughout rocky grassland here in spring.
Getting there:
From Interstate 280 in Santa Clara County, take CA 85 south, toward Gilroy (exit
12b). After about 12 miles, exit at Almaden Expressway (exit 6), stay in
the ramp's right lane, make the first left, then the next right onto Almaden Expressway. Drive
about 5 miles to the end of Almaden Expressway, turn right onto Harry, and almost
immediately, turn left onto McKean. Drive south on McKean 1.2 miles, and turn
left onto Fortini Road. Drive northeast on Fortini 0.6 mile to a T junction, then
turn left onto San Vicente and continue less than 0.1 mile to the trailhead on
the right.
Trailhead details:
No entrance or parking fees. Parking in a small gravel lot. No toilet facilities,
water, or maps. No designated handicapped parking, and the trail is not suitable
to wheelchairs.
Gas, food, and lodging:
Pay phones, gas, stores, and restaurants back near CA 85. No camping.
Rules:
Stile Ranch Trail is multi-use, as are most of the trails in adjacent Santa Teresa
County Park. Pets on leash are permitted. No hours are posted for Stile Ranch,
but Santa Teresa is open from 8 a.m. to sunset.
Distance, category, and difficulty:
This 2.6 mile loop hike is easy, with a total elevation change of about
400 feet.
The Official Story:
IBM's
Almaden page
SCCP's Santa
Teresa page (click on Find a Park, then Santa Teresa)
Map & book choices/More Info:
• Use AAA's Monterey Bay Region map to get to the park.
• Map
from SCCP of Santa Teresa (pdf--includes Stile Ranch Trail)
• South Bay Trails, by Jean Rusmore, Betsy Crowder, and Frances
Spangle (order
this book from Amazon.com) has a simple map and trail descriptions.
• The Bay Area Ridge Trail, by Jean Rusmore (order
this book from Amazon.com) has a simple map and descriptions of Stile Ranch
Trail.
• The Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Book, by Tom Taber, has a map and
park description (order
this book from Amazon.com).
• Flower
photos from the IBM website.
Stile Ranch Trail
in a nutshell -- a printable, text-only guide to the featured hike.
Stile Ranch Trail traverses low hills on IBM's Almaden
research 
property,
adjacent to Santa Teresa County Park. This 1.4
mile footpath, which is also a Bay Area Ridge Trail segment, is a particular favorite
with native plant enthusiasts. Rocky soil along the easement trail hosts a great
variety of endemic and common western flowers which bloom throughout spring. Hikers
can combine Stile Ranch Trail with the county park's trail network for hikes clocking
in at about 5 miles; in addition to Stile Ranch Trail, folks out for flowers generally
find the best displays on Rocky Ridge and Bernal Hill Loop trails. Since Stile
Ranch Trail and Santa Teresa County Park are connected, you can begin hikes from
the free, no-frills easement trailhead on San Vicente Road, or from the county
park's main area, complete with picnic facilities and restrooms (fee required).
For this featured hike, begin at the Stile Ranch trailhead,
which is at the edge of a agricultural/semi-rural area. Just past a big 
trail
sign, you'll reach a signed junction. Turn left, onto Stile Ranch Trail.
The narrow, multi-use path climbs gently on switchbacks, through dense thickets
of black sage, sagebrush, and occasional colonies of manzanita. In spring, look
for California poppies, orange fiddlenecks, bluedicks, popcorn flower, chia, and
yarrow. After 0.3 mile, the rocky trail drifts into grassland and the uphill grade
slackens. Here in spring, you may see California gilia, goldenfields, bluedicks,
tidytips, and jewelflower, a single-stalked plant with flowers that resemble little
pink frilly-tipped pouches. Stile Ranch Trail passes through a gap in an old stone
wall and ascends easily along the easement boundary, to the left. There are views
from the trail southeast to the hills of Santa Teresa, and back to the southwest,
of Mount Umunhum. After cresting at 0.7 mile, the trail begins to descend through
another area with good native flower displays in spring, including more gilias,
linanthus, onions, and claytonia. The IBM Almaden facility is visible on the left
as the trail turns and heads down the side of a grassy gulch. A few California
bay and scrub oak trees, and poison oak and California coffeeberry bushes thrive
here, and the next stretch of trail leading down to a creek crossing can be very
muddy following rainstorms. Once across a footbridge, Stile Ranch Trail climbs
back uphill to more dry ground, where on an early spring hike I saw several varieties
of butterflies, including a gorgeous Acmon blue. Some boulders studding the grassland
are covered with bright orange lichen, quite a color contrast to early spring's
vibrant green grass. Once more the trail descends, this time for good. Stile Ranch
Trail crosses another creek by a big valley oak, then follows the stream into
Santa Teresa County Park. At 1.5 miles Stile Ranch Trail ends at a signed junction.
Turn right onto Mine 
Trail.
The wide multi-use trail climbs slightly through
grassland. You may see or hear turkeys in this part of the park, gobbling back
and forth to each other, or trotting along the trails. Mine Trail's ascent is
brief, and soon you'll descend to a signed junction at 1.7 miles. Turn right
onto Fortini Trail.
The broad trail, open to cyclists, equestrians,
and hikers, drops to meander along Santa Teresa Creek. After crossing a stream
feeding into the larger creek, Fortini Trail shrinks a bit. Expect more mud here
in late winter and early spring. At a nearly level pace, the trail sweeps through
grassland near the park boundary, to the left. Houses and horses are both occasionally
visible. Black sage, sagebrush, and a massive manzanita stretch up the hillside
on the right. On my March hike I saw quite a few buckeye butterflies here. Now
running parallel to a private road, Fortini Trail continues to skirt a hill where
jackrabbits hop about. Great clumps of tidytips and bluedicks bloom along the
trail in spring. At 2.5 miles, Fortini Trail meets Stile Ranch Trail. Turn
left and return to the trailhead.
Total distance: 2.6 miles
Last hiked: Thursday, March 24, 2005
Go to Bay Area Hiker Home page
property,
adjacent to Santa Teresa County Park. This 1.4
mile footpath, which is also a Bay Area Ridge Trail segment, is a particular favorite
with native plant enthusiasts. Rocky soil along the easement trail hosts a great
variety of endemic and common western flowers which bloom throughout spring. Hikers
can combine Stile Ranch Trail with the county park's trail network for hikes clocking
in at about 5 miles; in addition to Stile Ranch Trail, folks out for flowers generally
find the best displays on Rocky Ridge and Bernal Hill Loop trails. Since Stile
Ranch Trail and Santa Teresa County Park are connected, you can begin hikes from
the free, no-frills easement trailhead on San Vicente Road, or from the county
park's main area, complete with picnic facilities and restrooms (fee required).
trail
sign, you'll reach a signed junction. Turn left, onto Stile Ranch Trail.
The narrow, multi-use path climbs gently on switchbacks, through dense thickets
of black sage, sagebrush, and occasional colonies of manzanita. In spring, look
for California poppies, orange fiddlenecks, bluedicks, popcorn flower, chia, and
yarrow. After 0.3 mile, the rocky trail drifts into grassland and the uphill grade
slackens. Here in spring, you may see California gilia, goldenfields, bluedicks,
tidytips, and jewelflower, a single-stalked plant with flowers that resemble little
pink frilly-tipped pouches. Stile Ranch Trail passes through a gap in an old stone
wall and ascends easily along the easement boundary, to the left. There are views
from the trail southeast to the hills of Santa Teresa, and back to the southwest,
of Mount Umunhum. After cresting at 0.7 mile, the trail begins to descend through
another area with good native flower displays in spring, including more gilias,
linanthus, onions, and claytonia. The IBM Almaden facility is visible on the left
as the trail turns and heads down the side of a grassy gulch. A few California
bay and scrub oak trees, and poison oak and California coffeeberry bushes thrive
here, and the next stretch of trail leading down to a creek crossing can be very
muddy following rainstorms. Once across a footbridge, Stile Ranch Trail climbs
back uphill to more dry ground, where on an early spring hike I saw several varieties
of butterflies, including a gorgeous Acmon blue. Some boulders studding the grassland
are covered with bright orange lichen, quite a color contrast to early spring's
vibrant green grass. Once more the trail descends, this time for good. Stile Ranch
Trail crosses another creek by a big valley oak, then follows the stream into
Santa Teresa County Park. At 1.5 miles Stile Ranch Trail ends at a signed junction.
Turn right onto Mine 
Trail.