South San Jose - Los Alamitos Creek Trail

What do you do when you are cooped up indoors due to bad weather, rainfall with a possibility of an atmospheric river? You start dreaming and planning.... Sunshine, Fresh air, Great Outdoors... Hmmm Sounds wonderful. It was also Ms birthday in the past week so even more reason to get out and meet and celebrate. 

We quickly decided to goto the South San Jose - Los Alamitos Creek Trail near the Almaden Expressway. This paved trail is located in a semi-rural setting with embedded parks and entrance points all along. The parking lot is small with a max capacity of around 15-20 cars but there is ample parking along the many cross-streets. Trail Map

As soon as we parked we saw a bridge nestled around the creek with trees. There were a lot of people biking and walking through the trail. Imagine crossing a bridge into this wonderland with beautiful sounds of the creek flowing downstream.

We started around noon and took the fitness route. The fitness route has small exercise stops all along the trail.

The fitness/exercise stops acted as a fun break with pull-up bars and beams of all sizes. It was designed keeping both adults and kids in mind so total family fun. We started chatting and talking about how busy the last few weeks had been while enjoying walking alongside the creek. 

After about a mile, we took a small break after the underpass. The creek was really close to the paved path so the kids took a detour to splash water and throw rocks in the creek. The water was shallow and clear enough to see the bottom. Everyone munched on some spring rolls and gummies while we paused.

After the energizing break, we resumed walking and reached the Arroyo picnic area. The picnic area was the highlight of the day. A center spot for all activities with a beautiful lake as the backdrop. Tons of benches surrounding the lake which was filled up with many ducks and geese. 

The kids were instantly attracted to the play structures and a pet Macaw named Mac. There was also a gentleman singing songs by the corner. All in all it was a picturesque setting with the kids playing, the gentlemen singing, the birds swimming by the lake, and the geese flocking around people.

We ended up spending quite sometime there. It is a a perfect place to get a reservation and spend the entire day. Picnic area, kids play area, bocce ball court - so many good options to choose.

We continued walking thinking we could go around the lake and come back to the picnic area for a lunch break. As we got deeper the trees became more sparse and we started to notice more buildings. As it was a semi-suburban trail there were many underpasses and at one point we even saw people fishing. Another good option if you enjoy fishing. We never found the spot where the lake ended so  turned back after half a mile. 

The kids were hungry so we looked for benches and took a lunch break as soon as we found some. Lunch included yummy wraps filled with olives, veggies, bean and cheese taquitos, veggie wraps and falafel flatbread. The falafel bread was the highlight of the day.

A got the little kids dinosaurs eggs which when thrown on the ground would break open to release the toy dinosuar. The little kids - AO - loved throwing them but not assembling the egg back. The older kids - SAM - loved putting them together so win-win for all. There were about 5 pieces that needed to be assembled together. At one point it became a challenge that involved 2 teams trying to compete on who puts back the egg together first. Putting the egg together was simple but required precision. What a fun little challenge - 30 mins to put the egg together and 1 min for the little ones to break and give it back. We didn’t realize how an hour went by so quickly..

As the urge for a post lunch siesta was getting stronger we decided to start walking again. The cool breeze refreshed and energized us while we continued talking. We soon crossed the park where the musician was still playing. We took a break at the pushup bar station to flex our muscles. We reached the parking lot in about an hour. There was a bench right by the parking lot so we sat there for sometime. The kids spent some time playing around with bikes and scooters. The little ones - AO - went back to throwing rocks and playing by the creek.

Since it was Ms birthday a few days ago - A had brought tea and cake pops for everyone. We sang happy birthday for M and ended the evening with Cake pops, tea, and Rasmalai cake. Our chatting and talking continued until it got dark so the kids got to race and play video games

Since we were so close to downtown we all made one more stop and grabbed a quick bite and then headed home. All in all, it was a fun and leisurely hike and would love to go again.

Food/ Snack we took:

1. Veggie wraps, Bean and cheese taquitos, Falafel flatbread, Spring rolls
2. Cake pops, Rasmalai cake
3. Tea

Metrics:

Hike Count: 3

Total Mile Count: 21