Knibb’s Knob Hike To Summit Rd At Uvas Canyon County Park

$ 6 for parking, card or cash. Sometimes the cardreader is a little finicky, FYI. You will drive through Sveadal, a Swedish — American camp, so please drive carefully! Not to worry — the park is at the end of the road.
The first place I hiked in the bay area is at Uvas County Park. While the other trails there are fun, easy, and interesting, this one is more of a challenge — but the views up top are spectacular. The morning started at a cool 55° right when the park opened, but after the first couple of switchbacks, it felt much hotter.
Sitting on the bench near the top not only offers an amazing view, it is also quiet and a good place to meditate. And refuel ;-).
Bring water. I usually bring a Camelbak & some salty snacks. Can’t wait to hike this again!

Quiet is peace. Tranquility. Quiet is turning down the volume knob on life. Silence is pushing the off button. Shutting it down. All of it – Khaled Hosseini
Located in Uvas Canyon County Park, this is a lightly used trail that is definitely a hidden gem. Of course the reason it is lightly used is the heart pumping 2400 ft incline in only 1.6 miles :)
But look at my photos and the stunning views you see going down. Totally worth it. Of course you won’t think that going up! You’d be thinking, gee Uncle sidney, were you on crack when you gave this 5 stars?
The first short leg starts from the parking lot to the trailhead as you walk through the camping ground. the mountain doesn’t look too challenging at this point. There is some shade, lovely Redwood canopy. How hard can this be?
Until you start going up and realize this is not your usual incline. Consider that Mission Peak hike goes up 2000 feet in 3 miles and you will see what I mean. And it just keeps going up, up, up. No flat breaks, no plateaus. The first half is shady but then the second part loses the canopy and it is open to the sun. On my hike I wished I had a hat.
After 1.6 miles you hit a junction with short .2 mile stretch that takes you to the Knob… which is disappointing after all that hiking in one sense. Not that beautiful, trees obscure most of the view. But then it hits you… you have this bench… a couple of lovely old redwoods… and there is no one around. Going up you saw a few campers running down the trail but they were just having fun. They obviously didn’t ascend far. After that there was no one. Everyone else was at the desultory waterfalls (only bad because of the drought. Usually they are quite lovely. I cannot believe anyone actually expected water). This solitude is the first reason why this hike is worth the effort.
After the Knob, I walked back to the Junction and went up another .4 mile up to Summit Rd. I thought there might be ocean views going the opposite direction but nothing on this day.
Now here is the second reason why this hike is five stars… the jaw dropping views of south Santa Clara Valley and Uvas Canyon as you descend! Absolutely spectacular!!!
Just a constant vista of beauty out to the other side of the valley at Harvey Bear Ranch… wow! The downhill is easy, not rocky, but it can also be slippery and for a moment I lost control of my speed and really could not stop. I started zig zagging to use gravity to help slow me enough so I could regain control. That was scary but otherwise going down was fine (even if you are a guy who doesn’t like going down… double entendre intended).
I added a side trip to the non existent falls to make it a 6 mile hike but you could also add contour trail or hike to the end past triple falls to stretch it out to ten miles or so. When it rains this will be an even more awesome park to hike in!
Highly recommended :)

very STEEP! even official map says «Steep» but really nice view. and no one there! I like that.