For the Outdoor Enthusiast!

California is one of the greatest places to be for the outdoor enthusiast! From gardening to the back yard barbeque, camping, hiking trails, climbing and biking- you couldn't ask for better weather than what we have here in the Golden State most of the year! The northern part of the state gets it's share of the four seasons, but much of the mid to southern parts of California have weather that you can hike in, bike in, camp in, or barbeque in almost any time of the year! Some of the best weather is found year round right here in Santa Clara, in the heart of Silicon Valley.

I have tried to combine many of the online resources available for the outdoor enthusiasts so that you don't have to look too far to find what you are looking for to fit any outside event that you are thinking about.

Here are some interesting facts about Santa Clara. Santa Clara was incorporated in 1852, is located 45 miles south of San Francisco, and 382 miles north of Los Angeles. Population of 105,831 (2003). Elevation is 94 ft. Rainfall average about 14.9 inches per year with upper temperature ranges around 71 degrees and lower ranges around 49 degrees annual average.

Bicycling~ Santa Clara offers 30.1 miles of bike lanes, 4.6 miles of bike routes, and 7.5 miles of recreational paths. Santa Clara has a Historical Bike Tour that is a distance of 6 miles (Rating: easy), and begins at the City Hall and Triton Museum located at Lincoln Street and Warburton Avenue. The official "City of Santa Clara" Bicycle Map can be picked up at the Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce at 1850 Warburton Avenue, before beginning your journey. Sites to see along this journey include the Triton Museum of Art (open daily, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. except Thursday, 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.), the Harris-Lass Historic Museum (open weekends noon to 4 p.m.), Mission Santa Clara, the Santa Clara Railroad Depot (open Tuesday 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.), the Women's Club Adobe built around 1790, and the Morse Mansion, a Queen Anne-style house constructed in 1892 for Charles Copeland Morse, the founder of what eventually became the Ferry-Morse Seed Company. In addition to the Historic Bike Tour, you can partake of the San Tomas Aquino/Saratoga Creek Trail, and enjoy some of the scenery.

Hiking~ California offers a vast number of trails for hiking, biking, equestrian, & Mountain biking. Below you will find links to some of the closest hiking trails in the San Francisco Bay Area and Southbay. For a good source of maps and topos for California trails, please see our affiliate links or click here.

The Bay Area Ridge Trail is a 500-mile multiple-use trail connecting parks and preserved open spaces along the ridgelines surrounding California's San Francisco Bay. More than half of the trail is complete, open to the public, and in use. The Bay Area Ridge Trail Council plans, promotes, and constructs the Bay Area Ridge Trail, a 500-mile multiple-use trail connecting parks and preserved open spaces along the ridgelines surrounding California's San Francisco Bay. The ridge trail links the following counties- Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Contra Costa, and Alameda.

The Bay Area Ridge Trail Council is a non-profit organization offering outings, volunteer opportunities, and membership benefits. To find out more information about the Ridge Trail- click on the link above to go to the official Bay Area Ridge Trail Council Site.

The San Francisco Bay Trail is a planned 400 miles of linking shoreline trails throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The San Francisco Bay Trail Project, a nonprofit organization administered by ABAG, was created in 1990 to plan, promote and advocate implementation of the Bay Trail. By 1999 a little more than half the Bay Trail’s ultimate alignment—approximately 210 miles—had been developed.

The following maps can be purchased from the ABAG Web Store or by calling 510-464-7900.

San Francisco Peninsula to Foster City
East Bay- Richmond to Hayward
South Bay- Redwood Shores to Newark
Carquinez Strait- Vallejo to Richmond
North Bay- Petaluma to Napa
Marin County- Novato to sausalito