Coyote Creek Trail
New and Future Developments

New Coyote Creek Trail Under-crossing at Yerba Buena Road

This page describes new sections of the Coyote Creek Trail, existing trails and public lands along the creek north of Coyote Hellyer County Park, and planned and potential trail segments. Since this page describes areas that are under development, conditions are likely to change frequently. Most of the information on this page was from observations in 2002. The purpose of this page is to inform the public about new and possible trail routes and get them interested in the development of the trail. It is not intended to encourage unauthorized exploration of undeveloped sections along the creek. (See the disclaimer below.) If you support the trail development, let your local representatives know.

Trails north along Coyote Creek don't end in Coyote Hellyer County Park. The Santa Clara County Parks trail ends, but the city of San Jose takes over. From the edge of the park, San Jose city park trails run for another 2.2 miles from the north end of the park. (See the Trail Mileage page for more details.)  An unmarked dirt trail leads from the northernmost corner of Coyote Hellyer Park behind the Yerba Buena Group Picnic site and passes under Yerba Buena Road via a new landscaped under-crossing, where it becomes a paved path. It runs for a block next to Grandbrook Way, passes by a closed landfill site where construction is going on, crosses the creek on an old closed part of Singleton Road, then follows a dirt path below another neighborhood next to Tuers Road. Just before the Capitol Expressway bridge, it becomes paved again. This trail section has been a little-known, underused, and abused trail segment for years, probably because it was not connected directly to the rest of the trail. It is currently under-going improvement. The trail surface was once covered with graffiti, most of which has now been covered up. However, the last time I visited the area, it still needed cleaning up. Coyote Creek was still full of discarded shopping carts and trash. The Singleton Road crossing has illegal dumping, and the road surface has large cracks. Until this segment is cleaned up and is more heavily-used, I would recommend caution in taking it. (See here for a map of the exisiting trail from Hellyer Park to north of Capitol Expressway.)

North of Capitol Expressway is a different matter. There is a sparkling new trail segment along the Los Lagos Golf Course, a public San Jose municipal course. This segment looks like the rural parts of the trail in the Coyote Valley. The trail currently ends at shady Stonegate Park, at Tuers Road and Gassman Drive. Stonegate is a popular 4-acre San Jose city park with picnic areas, playing fields, and playgrounds. There is a new skate park there. Next to it is Stonegate Elementary School. A paved path runs along the creek through the park and ends at the San Jose Police Mounted Patrol Unit, near Tully Road. A new city library and sports field is on Tully Road east of the creek. On the west side of the creek on La Ragione Avenue is the Nuestra Tierra community garden. (See here for a map of the proposed trail route from the golf course to just north of Tully Road.)

North of Tully Road, there are city parklands, part of the 385-acre Coyote Creek Park Chain, on either or both sides of the creek all the way up to William Street. However, there is no continuous trail yet. There are short trail segments along Coyote Creek in the neighborhood parks along it. There is the Coyote Community Garden along the east side of the creek at Galveston Avenue and Tully. North of that, the creek runs next to Galveston Avenue. It then runs behind some condos, churches, and the fields of Yerba Buena High School. Beyond that is a large undeveloped area of open space on Roberts Street that runs from Phelan Avenue to the edge of a closed landfill. Dirt trails run through this former orchard. The fenced-off landfill, which ends at Senter Road, prevents further travel north along the east side of the creek.

On the west side north of Tully Road, the creek runs behind several commercial and industrial complexes. North of there, Wool Creek Drive runs behind Shirakawa School and the Franklin-McKinley School District headquarters. There are orchards next to the creek. The road follows along a loop on the west side of Coyote Creek. Along the north side of this loop is an old ranch, Carroll Hay and Grain. Rock Spring Playground is off Senter at Rock Spring and Needles a little north of there. The longest trails are in San Jose's Kelley Park, home to the San Jose Historical Museum, Japanese Friendship Gardens, and Happy Hollow Park and Zoo. There are old dirt farm roads running through the walnut grove at the south side of the park. Paved trails run through the developed part of the park. There are lawns and picnic grounds along the creek. Kelley Park ends at Story Road. A narrow dirt path runs under the west side of the Story Road bridge. A makeshift unofficial creek crossing crosses to the park on the east side. (See here for a map of the proposed trail route from Shirakawa School to I-280.)

North of Story Road is an undeveloped plot of parkland. A dirt path runs through it between the creek and a closed landfill. It crosses under a railroad bridge. A maintenance road runs from this park under I-280 to partially-developed Olinder Park. A dirt road runs through an open field along the creek to the park trails at Olinder School and Community Center. A pedestrian bridge crosses the creek from Olinder Community Center to William Street Park next to Williams Street, where Coyote Creek Park Chain. From William Street to Santa Clara Street, Coyote Creek runs behind private homes, so a creek trail route would have to run along city streets. (See here for a map of the proposed trail routes from I-280 to Roosevelt Park.)

North of Santa Clara Street is 10.8-acre Roosevelt Park. Park trails run along the east side of Coyote Creek. North of the park is San Jose High Academy. There is some room to walk between the creek and the high school fence. A Water District levee can be taken partway up the east bank of the creek until it hits Miguelita Creek. The east side of the Coyote Creek from Miguelita Creek up to Hwy 101 is next to undeveloped land. The west side of the creek runs behind private homes and is inaccessible. The next public land to the north on the west side of the creek is at Empire Gardens School on Empire Street and 26.3-acre Watson Park along 22nd St. Dirt trails run along the west side of Coyote Creek in Watson Park. Watson Park ends at Hwy 101. (See here for a map of the proposed trail route from Roosevelt Park to Mabury.)

North of 101, the west side of the creek is bordered by trailer yards whose fences run right up to the edge of the steep creek banks. The east side has a levee along the creek bank, but access is blocked by the City of San Jose's Mabury Service Yard. North of Mabury, the west side of the creek runs mostly behind an industrial area. However, on the east side of the creek, north and south of Berryessa, more people walk near the banks of the creek on weekends than along any other section of the creek. This is because the San Jose Flea Market is here. The Flea Market and its huge parking lots lie along the east side of the creek between Mabury Road and north of Berryessa Road. A gated-off levee trail runs along the creek next to the Flea Market's fence. A planned BART station for the property has prompted the owners of the Flea Market to look into developing the property. The proposed development would include trails along Coyote Creek. Upper Penitencia Creek joins Coyote Creek near Berryessa Road. Higher up Penitencia Creek is Penitencia Creek County Park and San Jose's 720-acre Alum Rock Park. Extensions to the Penitencia Creek Trail are being planned. (See here for a map of the proposed trail from Mabury Road to Ridder Park Drive.)

More industrial areas lie along Coyote Creek north of Berryessa Road, blocking public access to the creek. There are large recycling facilities on the west side of the creek on both sides of Berryessa Road. The next area of public land along Coyote Creek, between Hazlett Way and Old Oakland Road is in the San Jose Municipal Golf Course on the east side of the creek.  However, the creek banks are generally not accessible unless you are golfing. On the other side of the creek is North Coyote Park, an undeveloped park which runs along the creek for about half as far as the golf course. A gravel levee trail runs along the creek behind a series of mobile home parks and ends at the railroad tracks that run behind the industries along Commercial Street. The Old Oakland Road bridge over Coyote Creek is long enough to allow future trail under-crossing. North of Old Oakland Road, the west bank of Coyote Creek is paralleled by Schallenberger Road, which ends at Ridder Park Drive. The creek is visible from the shoulder of Schallenberger Road. It is easy to dump trash into the creek from the road, so the creek banks are full of trash. On the other side of Schallenberger Road is the San Jose Mercury News. Ridder Park Drive crosses over Coyote Creek on a wide bridge. There are open fields along Coyote Creek on both sides of Ridder Park Drive. Ridder Park Drive crosses E. Brokaw Road. Coyote Creek flows under E. Brokaw Road, then I-880. A closed levee road runs along the east side of the creek between E. Brokaw Road and I-880. The I-880 widening project is going on in this area. Heavy construction makes access to this area uncertain and dangerous. 

Just past I-880, the creek crosses O'Toole Avenue. Starting from here, Water District levee maintenance roads follow along either or both sides of the creek and would make good trails if they were open, which they have been at times. However, these levee roads are not yet officially open as trails. This means there are no trail amenities, no trail signs, limited parking and access, and no liability accepted by park agencies for injuries suffered on them. Technically, unauthorized users could be cited for trespassing. Judging by the frequent use of these levee roads, this appears unlikely, though not impossible. This levee road starts on the both sides of the creek at O'Toole, ends at Charcot Avenue, and begins again on the other side of Charcot. The levee roads are blocked by gates. The west gates have occasionally been open. The road north of Charcot on the west side of the creek follows along a fuel distribution facility, and is interrupted by a gate and fence at the facility. A precarious narrow footpath leads around this fence. The road continues on the other side and goes under Montague Expressway. There is no under-crossing on the east side. (See here for a map of the proposed trail from Old Oakland Road to Montague Expressway.)

From Montague north are wide levee roads on both sides of the creek that are easily accessible, physically at least. The west side access gate from Montague is locked, but the east side gate has a walk-through gap.  Whether these levees are legally accessible is another question, but people can commonly be seen using them. From Montague Expressway north, the west bank of the creek is in the city of San Jose. The east side is in the city of Milpitas, up to Dixon Landing Road, where it enters Fremont. On the west side of the creek north of Montague is an old farm and orchard, a large housing complex, and several industrial parks. On the east side are a series of industrial parks. There are few fences preventing access from these facilities to the levee roads. Besides the roads on top of the levees, there are gravel roads leading down to creek level. The west levees run above an overflow area for the creek that is either dry or marshy. The east side runs closest to the creek itself. Both sides of the creek lead to under-crossings under Tasman Drive. Just west of the creek is the Tasman Light Rail station. From the Tasman Drive Bridge and the end of the Cisco parking lot, the levee roads are easily accessible. The levee on the west side passes by an open field, a large VTA bus lot, a small marsh, then parallels Hwy 237 and the pedestrian/bike path along it. The levee roads on both side of the creek run under Hwy 237 in large concrete underpasses. The East side underpass is currently blocked by a fence warning of trail construction. (See here for a map of the proposed trail on the San Jose side from Montague to Hwy 237.)

The levee paths along Coyote Creek end at Alviso-Milpitas Road. The ends of the paths on both sides of the creek are currently blocked by locked gates. At the west end of Alviso-Milpitas Road is a bike path leading to Zanker Road. Zanker Road can be taken to reach the Bay Trails at Alviso. (See here for a map of the Bay Trail in this area.)  From Alviso, the Bay Trail leads to the proposed Guadalupe River Trail, the San Tomas Aquino Creek Trail, the Calabazas Creek Trail, and the Sunnyvale Baylands. (See here for a Bay Trail Map of this area.) The Guadalupe River Trail will lead to the Los Gatos Creek Trail, the Alamitos Creek Trail, which will in turn link to Santa Teresa County Park and Almaden Quicksilver County Park. (See here for a Report on the Guadalupe River and Los Gatos Creek Trail Developments.)

Along Coyote Creek north of Alviso-Milpitas Road, people with sensitive noses should be wary here. The giant San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant and ponds are west of Coyote Creek. So is the Zanker Road Landfill. While these aren't the best-smelling facilities, the Alviso salt ponds can actually smell worse, when organic matter in the ponds start decaying in the summer. Wide, gravel levee roads continue on both sides of Coyote Creek. However, the west side in San Jose is currently closed due to construction. (See here for a map of the proposed trail route next to the water treatment plant  on the San Jose side.) The east side, which is in Milpitas, is more easily accessible near the McCarthy Ranch development. The levee road follows behind new industrial parks, an old farm, an old packing plant, farm fields, and a retired Milpitas sewage treatment plant. There are no fences or signs (at this time) preventing access to the creek levee from any of these facilities. A dirt road drops down from the levee and runs at creek level. At first, the lower road runs next to a wide field. Farther north, it runs right next to the creek. At this point, the creek is a tidal slough. You may see the creek waters flowing upstream.  The levee roads end at McCarthy Ranch Road near Dixon Landing Road. A closed gate currently blocks access to the road. A short completed segment of the Bay Trail is here along the road. North of Dixon Landing Road, an industrial park is under construction. Beyond that is the Bay Trail along the Coyote Creek Lagoon. Waters from Coyote Creek flow through this lagoon. The main section of the creek turns west and flows past the Alviso salt ponds, which are accessible from the Alviso Bay Trail. Shortly after it joins the Alviso Slough, Coyote Creek enters San Francisco Bay, north of the Sunnyvale Baylands. 

• San Jose Area Trails Map
• San Jose City Parks Coyote Creek Trail Study
  
• City of San Jose Creek Trail Projects (includes Coyote Creek Trail maps)
• City of San Jose - Kelley Park
• Walk San Jose
• Coyote Creek Trail Taking First Steps
• MetroActive: "Back on the Trail - Coyote Creek scares many outdoor enthusiasts, but improvements are supposedly on the way"
• San Jose Mercury News, Joe Rodriguez: "How a Creek Trail System Could Put San Jose on the Map"
• Cycling the "Milpitas Loop" Route (includes undeveloped levee trails along Coyote Creek)
• San Francisco Bay Trail Map - South Bay
• San Francisco Bay Trail - Coyote Creek Lagoon
• San Francisco Bay Trail Alviso - Alviso Slough and Mallard Slough
• Santa Clara Valley Water District - Flood Protection Project - Coyote/Berryessa Creeks
• McCandless Moving Ahead in Edenvale (see mention of Coyote Creek Trail development)
• Neighborhood Advisory Committee Note - Five Wounds/Brookwood Terrace (see notes on Coyote Creek Trail)
• Sidewalk Talk (see pg. 3 - Conecting Our Urban Parks on the Coyote Creek Trail)
• Bay Trail Rider Winter 2002 (see mention of Coyote Creek Trail in Milpitas)
• Rails to Trails - Coyote Creek Trail
• Kelley Park Ridge Trail Planning Project
• River Oaks Coyote Creek Trail