Termite-eaten trail sign

Alum Rock Park, CAMERON IS A FUCKING BITCH by Atsham Shakeel, 10N, WHTC founded in 1872, was the first municipal park in the U.S. state of California. Located in a canyon in the Diablo Range foothills on the east side of San Jose, the 720 acre (2.9 km²) park offers 13 miles (21 km) of trails, varying from fairly level along Penitencia Creek to sharp switchbacks climbing to the ridges to the South Rim Trail and the North Rim Trail. The narrow floor of the canyon includes a visitor center, picnic areas, a playground, and sand volleyball pits. Trail sign at Alum Rock Park Taken by Elf | Talk July 4, 2004 Alum Rock Park, San Jose, CA File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Trail sign at Alum Rock Park Taken by Elf | Talk July 4, 2004 Alum Rock Park, San Jose, CA File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... 1872 (MDCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... A state of the United States (a U.S. state) is any one of the fifty states (four of which officially favor the term commonwealth) which, along with the District of Columbia, form the United States of America. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq. ... Grand Canyon, Arizona canyon, or gorge, is a valley walled by cliffs. ... The Diablo Range is a large group of mountain chains and ranges in western California. ... Nickname: Capital of Silicon Valley Official website: http://www. ... Friends and family gather for a picnic in a public park in Columbus, Ohio, c. ... Combination playground structure for small children; slides, climbers (stairs in this case), playhouse A playground is an area designed for children to play freely. ... Volleyball is an Olympic sport in which two teams, separated by a high net, hit a ball back and forth over the net between the teams. ...

The ridge trails offer superb views of Santa Clara Valley, also known as Silicon Valley, and of the canyon in which the park is located. Trails in the park also connect to the Bay Area Ridge Trail and the Boccardo Trail, which leads into part of the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority's property. The Santa Clara Valley is a valley just south of the San Francisco Bay in northern California in the United States. ... A view of downtown San Jose, the self-proclaimed Capital of Silicon Valley. ... The Bay Area Ridge Trail is a proposed 500-mile long, multi-use trail encircling the San Francisco Bay Area. ...

Equestrians and mountain bikers have access to some of the park's trails, while others are reserved for hikers only. High school cross-country meets from schools around the area (such as Independence High School or Andrew Hill High School) are held at the park often. A junior horse riding event at the Melbourne Show Equestrianism relates to the riding of horses. ... A cross country mountain bike race A hardtail mountain bike A mountain bike, mountain bicycle or ATB (All Terrain Bicycle) is a bicycle designed for mountain biking, either on dirt trails or other unpaved environments. ... Many beautiful natural scenes are only accessible if one is willing to hike to get to them. ... There are several Independence High Schools including: Independence High School, Los Angeles, California Independence High School, San Jose, California Independence High School, Irvington, New Jersey Independence High School, Charlotte, North Carolina Independence High School, Coal City, West Virginia Independence High School, Independence, Kansas This is a disambiguation page — a list... Andrew Hill High School billboard. ...

View of northern Silicon Valley from South Rim Trail

View looking west across Silicon Valley from South Rim Trail at Alum Rock Park. ... View looking west across Silicon Valley from South Rim Trail at Alum Rock Park. ...

Environment

The steep sides of the canyon demonstrate the diversity of vegetation native to California. The south-facing slopes primarily consist of grasses, Poison Oak, sagebrush, and occasional live oak trees. The warm sun on the sagebrush lends a sweet smell to the air not found in the suburban Santa Clara Valley. Binomial name Toxicodendron diversilobum Western poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum or, previously, Rhus diversiloba) is found only on the Pacific Coast of the United States and of Canada. ... Binomial name Artemisia tridentata Nutt. ... Southern live oaks on Skidaway Island, near Savannah, Georgia Live oak is a general term for a number of unrelated oaks in several different sections of the genus Quercus that happen to share the character of evergreen foliage. ...

The north-facing slopes are dominated by trees, including Coast live oak, California bay laurel, madrone, and California buckeye. On the canyon floor, in the moist areas along Penitencia Creek, big-leaf maple, white alder, and Western Sycamore provide ample shade for the abundant ferns. Binomial name Quercus agrifolia The Coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia, also called the California live oak, is an evergeen oak, highly variable and often shrubby, found in the coastal regions of southwestern North America from Mendocino County, California south to northern Baja California in Mexico. ... Binomial name Umbellularia californica Umbellularia californica is an evergreen tree of the Lauraceae family. ... ... Buckeye may refer to: The name used for several species of trees of the genus Aesculus, or the related Mexican Buckeye (genus Ungnadia). ... Classes Marattiopsida Osmundopsida Gleicheniopsida Pteridopsida A fern, or pteridophyte, is any one of a group of about 20,000 species of plants classified in the Division Pteridophyta, formerly known as Filicophyta. ...

Several larger varieties of birds frequent the park, including the Red-tailed Hawk, Turkey Vulture, Wild Turkeys, Great Egrets, and California Quail. Larger wildlife includes Black-tailed Deer, bobcats, and an occasional mountain lion. There has been an increase in the Mountain lion population in the San Francisco Bay Area and one should know how to respond to these animals if encountered. Please see the mountain lion safety tips in the Mountain Lion article. Orders Many - see section below. ... Binomial name Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) The Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is a large hawk which breeds from western Alaska and northern Canada to Panama and the West Indies. ... Binomial name Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) The Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura, is the most common North American vulture. ... Binomial name Meleagris gallopavo Linnaeus, 1758 For other uses, see Wild Turkey (disambiguation). ... Binomial name Ardea alba Linnaeus, 1758 The Great Egret (Ardea alba), also known as the Great White Egret, White Heron, or Common Egret, is a wading egret, found in most of the tropical and warmer temperate parts of the world, although it is very local in southern Europe and Asia. ... Binomial name Callipepla californica (Shaw, 1798) The California Quail, Callipepla californica, is a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family. ... Trinomial name Odocoileus hemionus columbianus Richardson, 1829 Like all deer, black-tailed deer are herbivores. ... Binomial name Lynx rufus (Schreber, 1777) The Bobcat (Lynx rufus, commonly misinterpreted as Felis rufus) is a small wild cat indigenous to North America. ... Binomial name Puma concolor (Linnaeus, 1771) The puma (Puma concolor) is a type of large cat found in North, Central and South America. ... USGS Satellite photo of the San Francisco Bay Area. ... Binomial name Puma concolor (Linnaeus, 1771) The puma (Puma concolor) is a type of large cat found in North, Central and South America. ... Binomial name Puma concolor (Linnaeus, 1771) The puma (Puma concolor) is a type of large cat found in North, Central and South America. ...

History

One of several bridges over Penitencia Creek

Alum Rock Park was originally known simply as "the reservation"; it received its current name around the turn of the 20th century when people mistook the white powdery appearance of a large rock near its entrance to mean that it contained alum. Bridge over Penitencia Creek at Alum Rock Park Taken by Elf | Talk July 4, 2004 Alum Rock Park, San Jose, CA, with a cheap digital camera File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Bridge over Penitencia Creek at Alum Rock Park Taken by Elf | Talk July 4, 2004 Alum Rock Park, San Jose, CA, with a cheap digital camera File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... A crystal of Alum Alum, in chemistry, is a term given to the crystallized double sulfates of the typical formula M+2SO4·M3+2(SO4)3·24H2O, where M+ is the sign of an alkali metal (lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, or caesium), and M3+ denotes one of the trivalent metal...

The canyon has abundant mineral springs, which were touted as beneficial to people's health. In the late 1800s and through the 1930s, the park was famed throughout the country as a health resort. Through those years and as late as the 1970s, the park featured a natatorium (a huge, heated indoor swimming pool), dozens of private heated mineral baths that visitors could rent, a restaurant, and various other buildings. Many of the springs were enclosed in stonework grottos, and stone bridges were built across the creek. An electric railroad brought people from San Jose into the park. A natural spring. ... A natatorium is, stricta sensu, a structurally separate building containing a swimming pool. ... 50 meter indoor swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, or wading pool is an artificially enclosed body of water intended for recreational or competitive swimming, diving, or for other bathing activities that do not involve swimming, e. ... Toms Restaurant, a restaurant in New York made familiar by Suzanne Vega and the television sitcom Seinfeld For other uses, see Restaurant (disambiguation). ...

Grotto stonework around one of many mineral springs

By the 1960s, the park attracted so many visitors from the rapidly growing Santa Clara Valley that its facilities became overburdened and the natural scenery was damaged. In the 1970s, the park removed most of the buildings, closed off parts of the park, and began emphasizing the park's natural attractions rather than its man-made ones. Much of the attractive stonework remains, however, as do old support structures for the railroad. Grotto stonework at Alum Rock Park Taken by Elf | Talk July 4, 2004 Alum Rock Park, San Jose, CA, with a cheap digital camera File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Grotto stonework at Alum Rock Park Taken by Elf | Talk July 4, 2004 Alum Rock Park, San Jose, CA, with a cheap digital camera File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1961 to 1970, inclusive. ...

Due to overuse, some of the springs became extinct, and surviving ones became very weak, producing very little output.

Penitencia Creek had a different name until the early 1900s; somehow it began to be called by the name of a different creek located to the north of Alum Rock Canyon, which was so-named because monks (possibly from Mission San Jose) would meditate by its waters. Mission San José de Guadalupe Mission San José de Guadalupe was founded on June 11, 1797 by Father Fermin Lasuen, the fourteenth mission in the California mission chain. ...

El Niño winter storms caused a landslide that resulted in the closure of the original Alum Rock Avenue entrance in the autumn of 2000; access is currently available only from Penitencia Creek Road. Chart of ocean surface temperature anomaly [°C] during the last strong El Niño in December 1997 El Niño and La Niña (also written in English as El Nino and La Nina) are major temperature fluctuations in surface waters of the tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean. ... This article is about the year 2000. ...

Nearby facilities

• Penitencia Creek Park, downstream
• Penitencia Creek park chain map

External links

• City of San Jose's park site

Reference

Information from the San Jose Regional Parks brochure for Alum Rock Park, Rev. 6/02, and from informational signs throughout the park.