Find the top rated hiking trails in Gonzales, whether you're looking for an easy short hiking trail or a long hiking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a hiking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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I was excited to run on the Riverwalk Trail. Unfortunately the reviews are all from many years ago and things have definitely changed. On a beautiful Sunday morning I was the only runner, passing homeless people and their tents along the way. I couldn’t run through several of the undercrossings because there were homeless men sitting on the trail at the bottom. In one case two men were passed out with their legs sticking out on the trail. I had to backtrack and cross to the other side to avoid a large group of homeless men standing on both sides of the trail. Much of the trail is surrounded by chain link fences to keep the homeless (I’m assuming) from setting up camp under the overcrossings. I would never use this trail again. Much better to fight the crowds along the West Cliff trail.
We did this trail in Sept 2025. The completed portion of the trail is not very long and goes through the city of Santa Cruz. From the start and end points you have easy access to the Santa Cruz Beach Board Walk, and Natural Bridges State Park.
The Coyote Creek trail is great! It wanders thru fields in the valley with the hills in the near distance. The wild flowers are beautiful. This section of the trail is near Morgan Hill.
Started from Danny Lopez Park and rode north. Lots of bikers but all polite. Quite pretty and rural as opposed to riding south. Nice paved trail. We stopped to watch several remote controlled planes--very fun!
My husband and I ride this trail 2 or 3 times per week year round. We park at the visitor center in Morgan Hill and ride up to Hellyer Lake and back. It’s beautiful year round and full of courteous bikers and walkers. We have recumbent trikes and are in our late 60s. We feel safe on the entire round trip. We have spotted deer and wild turkeys and bunnies and turtles and right now (March 2025) the wild flowers are putting on a show! Highly recommend this beautiful trail!
I did this ride on Sunday afternoon, September 8, 2924, in 102 degrees. No joke. Must explain why it wasn’t very busy. I started at Anderson Lake County Park in Morgan Hill and went to Tully Road, just past the golf course south of downtown San Jose, and then turned around and returned to the park—40 miles, 1,190 feet elevation gain. Well maintained, all paved, relatively flat, and interesting trail with SO many squirrels and chipmunks dashing across the trail. Probably just playing with the bikers. Saw a flock of young turkeys on the trail. A hawk zipped close by me and tried to grab a rodent (missed). Lots of waterfowl in the ponds along the way. Vegetation became greener the further north I went from Morgan Hill, and more water in Coyote Creek. Saw coyote scat on the trail but no animals (too hot for them). There are several homeless campsites near the golf course, and even a rooster and cats and dogs. Overall, a great trail to see the arid landscape of the Santa Clara Valley (I live in the Pacific Northwest). Will plan to do it again in the springtime when it’s greener and not so hot, when I visit relatives again.
Well paved, courteous trail goers. We ended at Bridges Park, visited Monarch exhibit. Safe walk but not relaxing had to cross 5-7 busy streets along the way.
The trail is great for bikes, runners, and dogs on a leash. The ocean views are amazing, and the freshness of it is nice while running.
Trail is nice and well maintained but in the broad daylight, kind of shady with a considerable presence of homeless people by the Tully trailhead. Even carrying pepper spray, as a smaller young woman I felt kind of unsafe and was approached. The northern part of the trail (passes by a bunch of Amazon warehouses) does not have this issue but the stretch is much shorter. Would not come back here alone, or maybe at all. It’s a shame,because the trail itself is great, mostly flat, and scenic. Too Bad s
I've mostly ridden the section between Hellyer Park and the Coyote Creek visitor center / Malaguerra Ave (great free parking). A superb ride with far less traffic than the Los Gatos trail. A couple of weeks ago I parked at the Tully Rd lot and took it south. I was a little creeped out about leaving my truck there and the number of homeless encampments from Tully south about a mile. I won't do that again. Another good parking place is the free dirt lot "Coyote Creek Trail Parking at Metcalf" on google maps.
Riders and walkers be on ALERT!!!! Encountered two rattlesnakes on the trail but love all 44 miles of the trail. Great trail to disconnect from the urban concrete streets of San Jose. Oh yeah, nature at its BEST!!
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