Saratoga Gap Open Space Preserve

The coolest animal I saw on this hike was a bushy-​tailed black squirrel and I still loved hiking it… which says a lot because I’m usually not satisfied unless there’s at least 2 lizards and a whole mess of banana slugs.
I don’t know if it’s my favorite South Bay trail hiked so far, but I really enjoyed that it was as easy an 8-​mile hike as I’ve found in these parts… though it somehow translated to going up 90 flights according to my health tracker.
The walk to not-​castle rock but still a cool scenic graffiti-​doused rock atop the the trail is enjoyable and still a good one if you have kids or even an older person. It’s doable.
I’m not a biker but the parking lot (and the hot dog vendor, Mr Mustard) seemed to be a popular spot for motorcycle peeps while the trails as a whole seemed to be great for super polite mountain bikers. By far the nicest mountain bikers (and hikers, for that matter) that I’ve ever encountered on trails.
Climbing the rock and getting down from the rock was a great exercise in remembering just how ungraceful I am and also that I may have a thing with heights… but I did climb it with some help and got to have a lovely time at the top eating my egg & cheese bagel sandwich while looking out onto the greater South Bay.
The trails, for the most part, are pretty wide and very well kept. It’d be a great spot to do a short group hike or a longer 2 – 3 person hike on the more extensive trails. There is one portion of the hike where it seems like the old uphill trail is closed and you have to walk along the roadway for like 250 feet but there’s a super scenic overlook just across Skyline if you’re interested in making the most of your time. Just be super careful when crossing the street because drivers love to hit max cruisin’ speed on these winding, narrow roads.

This place has a lot of shades regardless what time of day U are doing your hike. Not many hikers but enough mountain bickers doing the trails. Everyone is really friendly and they usually would tell you how many are in their group so that you would let them pass to avoid any collision.

Very technical for a beginner like me… especially with clipless pedals, but was worth the falls and white knuckles. Looking forward to improving my skills on this trail. :-)

Love this place! Just went there on Monday and loved the Mtn Biking! Lots of variety in trails from switchbacks to rolling and steep hills. Not to mention beautiful views! Highly recommended!

My husband took me to this trail for my first real mountain bike ride. it was perfect. All the cool kids are coming here so you should too!
here is a link to the maps for the riding trails. the symbol with the bike corresponds to the mtb trail maps (duh!):
there is more to this preserve than meets the eye, they also have monthly events for people to get a greater sense of community, here is a link to their events calendar:
and if you are into collecting books and want to support your local open space preserve here is a link to a book of collected photographs, paintings, and poetry about the san francisco peninsula. come on, you can afford it!:

I’ve run this trail about three times now. It’s a nice out and back four miles from the parking lot to Skyline/​Highway 35. If you want to make it 5 miles, you can cross over Skyline/​Highway 35 and add an extra half mile by running up to the bench. It’s a challenging run and very popular with mountain bikers; but I’ve seen fellow hikers and runners as well. If it’s wet, the trail can get pretty muddy as you would expect. The trees provide a nice canopy and you’re rarely exposed to the sun. Expect lots of little hills and then one large climb as you finish (heading back towards the parking lot).
Run Start/​End: Parking lot at Big Basin/​Highway 9 and Skyline/​Highway 35
Trail Start: Across Big Basin/​Highway 9 from the parking lot

Know that deer in the headlights look, right before the deer gets impaled by an unsuspecting motorist? Don’t be that deer. Look both ways before crossing the street. Why do I say that? Because of the parking situation at Saratoga Gap OSP.
LOCATION:
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The trailhead is located on the northeast corner at the intersection of Route 9 (Big Basin Way) and Route 35 (Skyline Blvd). There’s parking for a few cars on the shoulder there, but the main parking lot is on the southeast corner. That lot holds about 25 cars, and the driveway is along Skyline Blvd.
That means that people have to cross Route 9 to get from the parking lot to the trailhead. The crossing is unprotected and there’s a semi-​blind curve around the corner, so be cautious. Don’t be that deer.
The preserve itself is a good half hour from Silicon Valley. The last 7 miles along Route 9 are somewhat windy and are unlit at night.
TRAIL:
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Most of this 1,540-acre preserve is off limits, and in fact the only trail is the single-​track Saratoga Gap Trail, which runs completely through a shaded forest. This trail seems to be more popular for mountain bikers than for hikers. For a biker, the medium-​sized rocks, tree roots and uneven terrain can be pretty technical to navigate. There are more ups and downs on this trail than on the stock market!
Annoyingly, this trail runs parallel and pretty close to Route 9, so the sound of passing cars can be heard. When you’re enjoying the serenity of nature and suddenly you hear «vroooom», that can really kill the mood.
The Saratoga Gap Trail runs 1.7 miles from the trailhead to a clearing along Charcoal Road (a dirt road not accessible to cars). By this point, you’re in neighboring Upper Stevens Creek County Park. From there you can either head north till you eventually hit Monte Bello OSP (
), or cross Highway 9 and head west into Long Ridge OSP (
).
VERDICT:
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There’s not much to find at Saratoga Gap OSP. It’s pretty much a place to park and a trail that will connect you to other preserves. The forest path is enjoyable, but it’s annoying hearing vehicular traffic the entire way. The views aren’t great, since you’re covered by forest. You’ll get better views once you make it over to Long Ridge OSP to the west.

I’m not an outdoor kind of person but this place is good for biking and running or walking. Great for just walking around with a date doing some sight seeing if you’re into those nature stuff.

My favorite mountain bike trail !
Technical and fun with a lot of tree cover

It was nice warm Saturday morning in May and I decided to pick Saratoga Gap trail for a mountain biking this weekend. You park your car at the Highway 9 and Highway 35 intersection. I was surprised that there is not many cars on Saturday around noon and there was every few riders on the trail. It was rather a quiet trail and I only see 2 hikers during my 2 hrs ride.
The single trail is not for beginner and it rather technical at some parts. There are some medium size boulders which you either need to push thru or stop and push your bike up or down depending which way you going.
It is not very steep single trail but a long ride of 1.7 miles until you reached the first intersection. From the intersection, you continue 0.3 miles to Highway 35 which is actually part of the Long Ridge Open Space reserve. Love the single track and I will be back again sometimes next week maybe. Have fun and bike safe.

Saratoga Gap Trail is probably my favorite weekend mountain bike spot in the south bay. It has a little bit of everything. Smooth single track with some technical parts full of roots, rocks, etc. It gives you some fire roads with some climbing and breathtaking views. I just rode this trail last weekend with a pretty good size group of 8 peeps and we all had a great time. Anyways, the route I normally take is about 9 mile loop. I don’t even know the trail names. I just know I cross Highway 35 at 1.20 miles from the trail head.
Everyone we encountered on the trail (hikers and other riders) were all pretty friendly. Of all the times I’ve ridden the Gap, it was first time I saw horses on the trail — must be a very rare occurance, cuz I hardly see horsie poop on the trail and that day I did notice a couple spots.
There’s only one thing I don’t like about this trail… NO BATHROOM, otherwise this trail would’ve had 5 stars.

I DECIDED TO TAKE A HIKE…
On my mini vacation to San Jose, I went up to the hiking trails of Saratoga Gap. The drive up was pretty easy and windy but after about an hour and a half of riving you finally hit the parking lot where you can park and start your hike.
It’s a pretty good hike which you have to share with mountain bikers but they seem to share it well with the regular hikers on the single track trails.
If you are the type who like to see variety in scenario, you won’t see much but trees and rocks but it’s scenic either way.
Also, I would ask the park rangers if they could post up actual signs near the roads stating what trails are there plus what you can see, it would be helpful! Luckily, you won’t have to worry about getting lost at all cause the trail tends to follow along the side of the road so while you are hiking, you hear the rush of cars whooshing by! Overall, pretty good hiking spot!

I really like this singletrack. You can park across the street in the lot at the intersection of Hwy 9 and Hwy 35. Then grab your mountain bike and enter through the gate. It starts off somewhat technical but everything is pretty easy to clear and you ride through beautiful scenery. The Gap is about 2 miles, then you cross Highway 35 and hit Long Ridge trail. This adds on another 5 – 8 miles as you ride along Long Ridge to Peters Creek Trail and then loop back through Saratoga Gap.

this trail IS the best. it’s about 1.5 miles of pure single track. this trail alsow feeds into a couple other trails that feed into more trails. you can map out a perfect loop for yourself as i have. once you leave saratoga gap trail (continuing westward), your breath is taken away from the beautiful panoramic views of the santa cruz mountains and the pacific ocean.
this trail has a little bit of everything. roots, rocks, single track, soft shoulders, speed and lots of trees — very foresty. short climbs and short decents. this is an intermediate technical trail. beginners can ride but it will be tough. if you’re looking for a trail to train on, this is the one!
also, lots of poison oak on this trail. when you’re done riding, go home immediately and take a shower — you’ll be sorry if you don’t !
rangers. there are rangers here checking to see if you have your helmet on and for speed violators. yes, they have radar. they can only use their radar with their vehicle which can’t fit on a single track (duh). so, if you’re on a fireroad or coming upon one, check your speed. stay at or under 15mph. some rangers have a good eye and can tell visually if you are speeding or not — so be aware. best time to ride this trail to avoid rangers AND hikers is during the week. warm weekends, the trail is packed — plan to ride early in the morning… around 8 – 9.