[Dear Travel Diary #3] Old Quarry turned Hiking Park

Dear Travel Diary,

Today I went on a little trip to the City of Saratoga. It is slowly becoming one of my favorite small cities in the Bay Area. It is a city where I see myself living in the near future...however cost of living here is insanely high where houses are in the million dollar range! With such a high cost of living, it is not surprising that this area is a huge supporter of beautiful luxury, such as the Arts. To see what I am talking about, Montalvo Arts Center is the perfect example of that.

Old Mining Equipment besides Picnic Area.

The reason why I am visiting today, is that I heard of a new park that has recently opened, (in October 2015, to be exact). After some research and learning about the history of the place, I know I had to check it out.

The park is called Saratoga Quarry Park. Back in the 1800's, the hills of the park were mined for copper, limestone, and gravel all the way up until the 1950s. If you would like more information and history of the park, here is a link to another blogpost, Saratoga Quarry Park, I had written earlier.

Mining Entrance

I like that Saratoga kept a few of the old mining relics and features in the park. They made the history of these hills the main focus with signs all along the lower levels of the park. I have to admit, the old mining equipment and tunnels is the most interesting part of the park. Everything else, from the hiking trails to the scenic viewpoint to the pond are very lack luster. At least the views on the hike up to the view point are pretty.

Views of Vineyards can be seen on the trail.

The park as a whole seems very unfinished. There are closed off paths that go further up the hills, but are deemed too hazardous to explore, but seeing these paths, I get the feeling that there are plans on expanding the trails in the future. If expansion is in the works, then I am excited about what this park will look like in the next five or six years. It will be cool to view and compare old footage with new footage, just to see the changes.

Happy Wandering, Alice.

To watch my day, here is a link to: "Travel Vlog: #3 Old Quarry turned Hiking Park"