NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Summary

A historical park with miles of trails to explore and a few historical buildings left over from Almaden’s mercury mining days.

Trail Stats

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Trail Details

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Another sunny California day means an additional day to explore. This day lead us to Almaden Quicksilver Park in south San Jose. Not too surprisingly this area used to have Mercury mine’s. A few remnant buildings from the mining era remain, all are rather dilapidated.

There are three entry points into the park that provide parking. I chose the Mockingbird Hill entrance as it was the closest. There’s a bathroom provided with flush toilets.

An immediate decision needs to be made as soon as you head to the trails, there are three directions available. I went straight down the middle to hit up the New Almaden Trail. This is a lovely single track trail that has the traveler climb multiple ridges and descend into the draw, where I crossed six small streams prior to switching trails.

Lucille was in better spirits today and was willing to walk for brief intervals. She got to experience her first miniature “waterfall” and meet fellow hikers. Once turned onto Prospect trail, there’s a pretty sandwich spot with a picnic table and lovely overlook. We thoroughly explored the bushes here. Apparently the sniffs were marvelous. Leaving this idyllic spot a flock of little birds captured Lucilles attention as they flit from branch to branch. It took some coaxing to convince her to continue on.

This connector trail dead ends into Mine Hill Trail, which is really a road. It mostly takes the traveler along a ridge and does afford some rather nice views along the way. A quick diversion brought us to Catherine Tunnel, which as it turns out, is not a tunnel at all. Closer to a hulled out hill. Maybe it used to be a tunnel?

Shortly after this landmark, the trail split and I headed down Castillero Trail, planning to do a loop of sorts to hit up most of the ruins. Castillero to Yellow Kid, back up Mine Hill, down Great Eastern to Day Tunnel Trail (again, no tunnel. Sheesh), down Randol Trail, up Capehorn Pass Trail (was surprisingly steep) and finally, down and out on Hacienda trail. So yeah, lots of trails. A map was quite helpful. Without it I might still be aimlessly wandering through the park. Or at least have popped out into the wrong parking lot.

Rotary Furnace was probably the most admirable set of structures still standing. Here lays a furnace where mercury was separated from ore and processed for sale. Site’s made complete with a shower house. Not sure that saved people from mercury poisoning but I’m sure it was nice to wash off after work. It’s all fenced off to keep us shady passers by out. But there’s a picnic bench next to the fence, right by a giant pile of timbers. Lucille and I had lunch here. I let her wander around, sniffing here and there while I munched on my sandwich. She was particularly enamored with that wood pile. We nosed into all the corners. Read all the informational signs, amazing for me. I generally skip those.

And then we headed around the hill to Spanish Town where we were immediately greeted with signs warning of Hantavirus in the area. Do not approach any buildings or wreckage. There were warnings at all the other structures I saw. All of them. Just not at Rotary Furnace where we wandered through all the things. Fabulous. I’ve since told Doug if I come down with a mysterious malady it’s because of that ruin.

English camp contains the majority of the ruins with a smattering of buildings to look at. I found the extra steps out to April Tunnel to be the most rewarding. Though I believe it’s technically a trestle and not a tunnel. Nonetheless it was interesting. The old powder house has been restored and resided just a little further along the loop. It stored exactly what one might think, black powder and dynamite. Understandably, this structure stands off by itself.

Overall, Almaden Quicksilver Park offered interconnecting trails through the entire park and skeletal remains of old mining structures for a glimpse into the areas history. One can make as long or as brief of a hike as is desired. I only saw a portion of the trail systems. All were well maintained and marked, with the exception of the Yellow Kid trail which has some water damage but is still more than passable. Every trail offers its own views, be they an overlook, meadow or oak covered hillside. Plenty of spots to enjoy a sandwich. Just steer clear of any mice.

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