Sanborn County Park
Sanborn County Park is a 3,453 acre (13.97 km2) county park situated in the
The park is located four miles west of the town of
Practical information
The park is open year-round, although there is no entry after sunset. Sanborn County Park is located on Sanborn Road. From the city of Saratoga, proceed two miles (3 km) west on
History
The site was long-visited by
Sanborn County Park was purchased in the late 1970s in an expansionary era of the
From 1976 to 2010 the main house was the site of the Sanborn Park Hostel, entirely renovated by volunteers, which was proud to charge the lowest rate of any hostel in the United States ($14/night at the time of closing).[5] The hostel was forced to close in the face of increasing insurance costs and reduced international travel after 9/11.
Sanborn Science and Nature Center
Opened in 1982, the Youth Science Institute - Sanborn Science and Nature Center is a science and nature education facility operated by the Youth Science Institute. The center features live animals found in the Santa Cruz Mountains, earthquake and geology exhibits, an arthropod zoo and a regional plant garden. The center offers nature and science school and group programs, after-school science and summer camp programs. The center hosts an annual Insect Fair in May.
Overview for hikers
Exposed on the steep canyon eastern slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Sanborn County Park has one of the coolest summer climates of Santa Clara County's parks. Towering redwood forests add to this eastern slope exposure in keeping hiking
The park features the first segment of the regional
At the southeastern corner of Sanborn County Park sits Lake Ranch Reservoir, an attractive tiny mountain lake, accessible via either a steep canyon trail at the terminus of Sanborn Road, or by way of a longer, more level trail originating at Black Road. The latter trail, which sinuates high up along the flanks of Lyndon Canyon, is a lightly used trail, but extremely lush and forested; it crosses numerous small riparian zones, whose creeks tumble into the steep-sided canyon, originally formed by the San Andreas Fault. Shorter, less strenuous trails extend through the redwood stands and along creeksides within the lower reaches of Sanborn County Park.
Vegetation
Besides the tree species noted above, the park contains a variety of native plants, first surveyed in the Earth Metrics EIR. Examples of this flora are:
- Blue elderberry, Sambucus mexicana
- California maidenhair fern, Adiantum jordanii
- California mugwort, Artemisia douglasiana
- California poppy, Eschscholzia californica, the state flower
- Elk clover, Aralia californica
- Flowering currant, Ribes sanguineum
- Miniature lupine, Lupinus bicolor
- Miner's lettuce, Claytonia perfoliata
- Poison oak, Toxicodendron diversilobum
- Slender tarweed, Madia gracilis
- Sticky cinquefoil, Potentilla glandulosa
- Toyon, Heteromeles arbutifolia
Geology
The
Subtle evidence for earthquake activity may be found at numerous locations within the park as described in USGS publication "Where's the San Andreas Fault? A Guidebook to Tracing the Fault on Public Lands in the San Francisco Bay Region", chapters 5 and 6.[6] The guide shows where to spot evidence of offset drainages, fault scarps, stream capture, shutter ridges, and sag ponds as you venture through the park.
See also
References
- ^ Silicon Valley Shakespeare formerly the Shady Shakespeare Theatre Company
- ^ Official Site
- ^ Saratoga History Photo: Pick for Pick
- ^ Sanborn Park Master Plan, Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department, San Jose, California, Charles Rockwell, project manager (1976)
- ^ Remembering Sanborn Park Hostel
- . Retrieved 2022-10-08.