Los Gatos Creek Trail

Description

This is an asphalt trail and features in the Silicon Valley Marathon. So it's a fast and easy run. The total trail from Meridian Avenue in San Jose to Lexington Reservoir is almost 10 miles. However the main part of the trail is the 6 miles from Campbell Park to downtown Los Gatos.

I personally like this trail. It passes by some nice ponds before arriving at Vasona Reservoir and Park. It climbs about 300 feet in 6 miles - so it's never challenging. If you want to start and finish at the same location, I recommend you start at the Campbell end. There's parking at Gilman Avenue and you have the gravity assist on the second half of the run. It's a little under an 1 hour in each direction. So if you stop for a smoothy/coffee in Los Gatos - it's a nice 2 hour work-out.

It's only fair to point out that many trail runners dislike this trail because of its asphalt surface. It's always quite busy with a great mix of strollers, bicyclists, runners, walkers, roller-bladers, wheel-chairs. Unless you're very early in the morning, you'll always have to deal with other trail traffic.

Location

The trail goes from Gilman Avenue, Campbell to Los Gatos High Street. Gilman Avenue is located to the east of downtown Campbell and Campbell lightrail station. It's between downtown Campbell and the Pruneyard Shopping Center and Hwy-17.

Maps, Photos and More Information

Updated: November 15, 2007

Trail Data Sheets

Here are a series of great trails which we've run around the area:
(In alphabetical order!)

Alum Rock Park
Coyote Peak Trail
Guadalupe Park Trail
Los Gatos Creek Trail
Nibbs Knob Trail
Quicksilver Park