Heintz Open Space

Great hiking trail, know exactly what trail to hike or you might get lost. I parked my car in a residential area before my hike. There’s a map before you take your hike. Nice a peaceful.

Enjoy my afternoon hiking and views with my hubby and dog at Heintz trail, Los Gatos. Perfect hiking for us to hike everyday! We are only take about 40 mins for a trip. It is our entertainment and benefits after we moved in this beautiful area

Not too intense of a trail and nice views of the San Jose area.

From Heintz Open Space, you can do an approximate 2 mile hike/​walk through Belgatos Park and back to the trailhead at Regent Dr. To do this, you can take the Valley View Trail for 0.6 miles uphill and continue with the Valley View Trail another 0.4 miles or alternatively take the Sky Lane Trail another 0.4 miles. Once you see the sign for Belgatos Park, just take that pathway for another 0.4 miles generally downhill. Then you can take the street back to wherever you parked on Regent Dr. To get back, just take a left on Westhill Dr, left on Surmont Dr, right on Surmont Ct, continue to walk west from Surmont Ct to Heintz Ct and you’ll be back. This loop will roughly equal about 2 miles in total distance. Can easily do the hike/​walk in an hour with several stops. There hasn’t been much rain so things were pretty dry but some of the views going up Valley View Trail were quite nice overlooking the south bay.
Went on New Year’s day and the trails were not overly crowded, hopefully it the same case on the weekends.

One of only two open spaces in Los Gatos, this convenient little nature sanctuary offers some short but somewhat elevated hikes without having to trek it up into the mtns.
Having only done the Vista Trail hike so far, this 0.3 miler is a fantastic up n back to a scenic overview as the name implies… perfect for after work jaunt with a view!
The Valley View Trail is longer and does connect to Santa Rose Open Space for those looking to keep on truckin.
Street parking is fairly abundant and next to trail head.

Review for the Vista Trail at the Heintz Open Space Park:
(map of trails:
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We got to the park through Regent, and we parked in a quiet residential area and the entrance to the park (there are a few designated spaces and then some street parking). If you take the Vista Trail, it’s a moderately uphill slope all of the way so bring your water! Fortunately the trees were high enough to shade from the sun most of the trail. There wasn’t anyone else on that trail, though at one point we found ourselves just 10 ft. from two deer (cool!)…
Going up is all right, but going down is equally steep. Most of the time I was sliding down the dirt and dried leaves (ruining my white sneakers!) and if it weren’t for my rock climber of a boyfriend, I’d probably still be facedown buried in dead leaves on that trail.
My point: Bring water, don’t wear nice white sneakers, the Vista Trail wouldn’t be great for kids as it isn’t *that* easy simply because of steepness, or if you’re a beginner/​casual hiker like myself – beware! Definitely shouldn’t use this trail in wet weather.

Easy and short trails that begin at Regent Drive and connect to the Santa Rosa Open Space. Superb for going for a short hike without having to drive for an hour first!