Henry COe State Park
Middle Ridge loop
Directions: From 101 at Morgan Hill, take the East Dunne Avenue exit going east. Eventually East Dunne will come to a fork at the Holiday Lake Estates. Take the right fork and follow it for about 10 miles into the hills and you will come to the park headquarters. The park is open 24/7.
Parking fee: $5.00
Henry Coe State Park website: http://www.coepark.org/
On the Monument Trail
Looking across towards the Lick Observatory
Approaching Hobbs Road
Hobbs Road heading to Frog Lake
An old misshapen tree
Some fall color in the park
Some more fall color
Hobbs Road creek crossing
Stopping for directions
Looking down at Hobbs Road
Walking along the Frog Lake Trail
Frog Lake
Another shot of Frog Lake
Old dead tree along the Frog lake Trail
View heading up the Frog Lake Trail to Middle Ridge
On the Middle Ridge Trail
Walking through some Manzanitas
Some scraggly old branches
More manzanitas
View of the park along the Middle Ridge Trail
Continuing on the Middle Ridge Trail
A carpet of fallen leaves
Another carpet of leaves
Almost at the bottom of the Middle Ridge Trail
Middle Fork creek crossing
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Middle Ridge Trail-Poverty Flat Road junction
Heading up Poverty Flat Road
It gets steep
Along the Springs Trail
A tarantula
A feisty little fellow!
Sunset back at the Park Headquarters.
On November 4, 2006 I hiked the Middle Ridge Trail loop through Poverty Flat and back to the Park Headquarters
GPS Stats
Distance hiked: ~10.3 miles
Total ascent: ~2616 ft
Trailhead Elevation: ~2650 ft
Max Elevation: ~3000 ft
Moving time: N/A
Moving Average: N/A
Overall average: N/A
Time stopped: N/A
Personal stats
Dates Hiked:
November 4, 2006
Start time: 12:00 noon
Weather: The temperature was cool and comfortable for this hike, based on memory, upper 60’s or so.
Water consumed: 3 liters
Finish time: 6:00 PM
Total time: 6 hrs
Beauty: Beauty is of course, in the eye of the beholder. The golden hills and oak trees may look drab to some and gorgeous to others. Either way, this November hike also offered some really nice fall colors with sections of the trail covered in beautiful fall leaves.
Wildlife seen: A coyote and a tarantula
Difficulty: This was a fairly strenuous hike for the distance and elevation change.
National Geographic TOPO! software website:
In working on my website I accidentally lost the original page for this hike and with no backup, I am trying to recreate it from memory and the little info I still had available.
This hike was recommended to me by the rangers at the Park Headquarters and it turned out to be a great hike and on that I will repeat. At around 10.3 miles, it is a good long hike that took me about 6 hours to complete.
This hike started at the Park Headquarters going from the Monument Trail to Hobbs Road to the Frog Lake Trail to the Middle Ridge Trail to the Poverty Flat Road to the Springs Trail to the Corral Trail and back to the Park Headquarters.
I might add that the direction I hiked it worked out well in that the hike up Poverty Flat Road is probably not as bad as the hike up the back side of the Middle Ridge Trail would be. Maybe next time I hike it I will try it in the reverse direction to see but it was certainly a long descent that seemed pretty steep in spots.
Also as I more or less remember, the hike down the Middle Ridge Trail into Poverty Flat was a little bit of a toe-jammer. I don’t remember my bum left knee bothering me though as it frequently does upon descending steep trails. The Middle Ridge Trail also suffered from some rutting in sections where either water or mountain bikes or both had eroded little trenches into the trail. I found they made the trail more difficult to walk and especially in the steeper downhill sections.
Regardless, this hike is typical Henry Coe and is certainly one I would recommend. Just keep an eye and ear out for the mountain bikers who frequent the trail and go out and enjoy it!
