Uvas Canyon County Park 2016-01-25

Uvas Canyon County Park, a hidden gem that comes alive in winter after good rains with picturesque waterfalls provided just the perfect spot for a special hike to ear mark my 100th outing. Located at 8515 Croy Rd in Morgan Hill, the park can be reached by driving the 4+ miles in Croy Rd from Uvas Rd, passing through Sveadal, a private property belonging to Swedish American Legion. There is a $6 fee to enter the park.

Lower Falls

There are five falls by the Waterfalls Loop Trail and two outside of it. We started our hike by Swanson Creek Trail to Lower Falls, one of the two outliers. The trail goes right by Swanson Creek much of the way before going around a Indiana Jones-esque hill and a long flight of stairs before coming to the site of Lower Falls. Located where the smaller Swanson Creek and larger Uvas Creek meet, Lower Falls is a powerful waterfall in Swanson Creek, not very tall, but voluminous and impressive. 

Granuja Falls

From Lower Falls, we went back to the main road, retracing our steps. The Waterfalls Loop Trail that starts right across the road is also a nature trail. Do pick up the nature trail guide along with the park map; it will provide a great description of not just the waterfalls but also the flora by the creek and other interesting information. The trail crosses the Swanson creek more than once by wooden bridges and the first one is actually right in front of Granuja falls, the smallest falls we saw today.

Black Rock Falls

The loop trail goes on either side of Swanson creek. Water was flowing in both the hillside dry washes carrying run off from the recent rains. Black Rock falls comes next after crossing the fourth bridge over Swanson creek. From there, the trail goes by a level area called Myrtle Flats before coming up on yet another wooden bridge.

Knobcone trail

A side trip to Knobcone Point is possible from here. This is about a mile round trip, but this would involve climbing more than 400 feet in half a mile. Apollo and I did the relatively steep hike to Knobcone Point. As the trails climbs up hill, you will get to walk by the dry and sunny hillside with the sound of the water flowing receding to the background. 

Basin Falls

Right by the cut-off to Knobcone trail is Upper Falls. And to its right is Basin Falls. Both of them were impressive. I could walk right in front of Basin Falls for some excellent close up views.

Upper Falls

Instead of returning to the parking lot walking the other side of Waterfalls Loop trail, I decided to take the 1.5 mile Contour trail and extend our hike. Contour trail goes right by the Upper Falls providing yet another view of this waterfall. 

Contour trail

About 1/4 mile into the hike by Contour trail, the path crosses the creek, requiring you to walk across the fast flowing stream. It was passable today, but there are warnings to the effect that it may not always be passable. It was a gradual climb up by Contour trail before we came up on a fork and a sign asking hikers to "keep out of restricted area".

I doubt if this is a trail...

I took the fork to the right and it quickly became apparent that it was not the trail. I have marked this point in the map below with a note to stay on the left at the fork.  Back on Contour trail, it continues to ascend for a while more before going through a long stretch of easy and gentle downward slope through a heavily wooded forest. 

Manzanita Pt.

Contour trail ends at Alec Canyon trail. From here, it is possible to head back to the parking lot. Instead, Apollo and I had headed to Triple Falls, the other outlier, a 3/4 mile hike from here. Alec Canyon trail is a wide dirt trail that is much like Knobcone trail, albeit not so steep. It goes by a vista point called Manzanita Point with impressive views of the mountains surrounding the valley. 

Triple Falls

While Triple Falls did have a nice flow, it wasn't as voluminous as the previous ones we had visited. Still, the 1.5 mile round trip was certainly worth it. We wrapped our hike essentially retracing our way back to Contour trail junction and continuing further for another 1/2 mile to the parking lot. 

All in all, we did more than six and a half miles today in little over two and a half hours. The route I took today involved climbing about 1700 feet. The uphill portions are from Lower Falls all the way to Knobcone Pt. and the first 1/2 mile of Contour trail. 

More photos from my 100th hike.
#Hiking #HikingWithDogs #UvasCanyonCountyPark #UvasCanyonPark #WaterfallsHike