![]() You will notice several non-indigenous trees and plants originating from the 1800s inhabitants that worked the nearby mines. English Camp is located in a gap in Capitancilanos Ridge. Reward? At the end is English Camp, site of one of the original mining towns.Įnglish Camp: Great place for lunch or a break. It's a decent little climb of about 600 feet in just over a mile, and on a sunny afternoon you can get cooking pretty well surprisingly. The trail itself, a dirt road, passes through nice views of New Almaden, Almaden Reservoir, and up to Loma Prieta (Above the site of the 1989 Earthquake). Start to English Camp: Continue on Mine Hill Trail, making a left at the first junction onto English Camp Trail, staying on this until you reach English Camp. View of Almaden Reservoir, looking South from Quicksilver Take the dirt road gate, which is "Mine Hill Trail". Make sure to grab one of the free maps at the information board. At the back of the dirt parking lot is a information board, and a gate over a dirt road that goes up the side of the mountain (Capitancillos Ridge). As much history as there is here, I will save that for another more in depth post on Quicksilver. Across Almaden Road is a memorial to Pat Tillman, and also a historical market laying "claim" to the first mining in California. At about 3 miles, after passing through old New Almaden, you will see a dirt parking lot. Reach it by taking Almaden Road from Almaden Expressway. This is probably the most popular and commonly known entrance to Quicksilver. Start: Start at the Hacienda Entrance to Almaden Quicksilver. You can start and end at the same entrance, the Hacienda Entrance. The Cemetery Loop is about 3.5 miles round trip - and if hiked straight through should take about 2 hours at a light pace. Hacienda Entrance - the Rattleshake on a foggy January morningĪfter having hiked and explored Quicksilver countless times since I was a kid, I've developed this loop, which I'll call the "Cemetery Loop" after the Hidalgo Cemetery which this loop crosses through. Some other time I will provide a post about Almaden Quicksilver County Park (I'll call it "Quicksilver" from here on out, as a lot of south bay locals refer to it). Why is it my favorite? It's a sure bet, enjoyable hike that I always go on with friends. Facilities plans were created and an Environmental Impact Report was prepared.This blog refers to trails and sites found on The Almaden Quicksilver County Park PDF Map.Īs my first post for Stones and Bones, I'll share with you my favorite hike. The county parks director envisioned a historic park where visitors could experience the mining past and also enjoy the biodiversity of the natural setting. Very soon after buying the mining property in 1976, Santa Clara County began planning for park usage, in an era where the county parks program was aggressively expanding. In the period 1976 to 1978, the county developed a number of new large parks in rapid succession including Grant Ranch Park, Sanborn Park and Almaden Quicksilver County Park. Army Corps of Engineers and there is a memorial honoring the Civilian Conservation Corps firefighters that were stationed there for a time. Some structures were built later by the U.S. The remains of a variety of structures left over from the 135 years of mining activity, including housing for the up to 1,800 miners, are scattered about the park, with the biggest concentration at what was known as English Camp, established by Cornish miners in the 1860s. By the time Santa Clara County bought the mines in 1976 and ended operations, 83,974,076 pounds (37,388 metric tons) of mercury (worth more than US$70 million) had been extracted. The mines were highly important during the California Gold Rush, since mercury was used to extract gold from ore. The park's New Almaden Mines were in operation from 1847 to 1976. The park is named after the New Almaden Quicksilver Mines, which were named after the mercury mine in (old) Almadén, Spain, and produced mercury that was used to process ore during the Gold Rush. The Casa Grande Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum is located in nearby New Almaden. Adjacent to the park is the Almaden Reservoir. Its grounds include the Guadalupe Reservoir and features sweeping views of San Jose. The park is owned by the County of Santa Clara and managed by the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department. The park's elevation varies greatly: the most used entrances (on the east side of the park) are less than 600 feet (183 m) above sea level, while the highest point in the park is over 1,700 feet (518 m) above sea level. Bobcat in wintertime, 100 meters from the trailĪlmaden Quicksilver County Park is a 4,163 acres (17 km²) park that includes the grounds of former mercury ("quicksilver") mines adjacent to south San Jose, California, USA.
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