The Santa Clara County Parks Department purchased a 95-acre parcel (2026 Uvas Canyon Addition) adjacent to Uvas Canyon County Park in Morgan Hill. The property will expand the park’s boundary and provide alternative routes for connector trails envisioned in a countywide master plan, according to county officials.
County parks staff will soon begin securing and restoring the property, known as the 2026 Uvas Canyon Addition. After that, the parks department will begin a planning process for new trails and other amenities, says a June 4 press release from Santa Clara County.
The purchase supports the parks department’s Countywide Trails Master Plan, which visualizes a network of more than 750 miles of regional, local and connector trails throughout the county.
“The Santa Clara County Parks Department is another step closer to carrying out the goals laid out in the Countywide Trails Master Plan,” said Director Todd Lofgren. “We care for a strong and environmentally healthy system of parks and trails. Continuing to expand regional trail connections and preserving wildlife linkages is a part of the Department’s mission to provide, protect and preserve regional parklands.”
The county paid $850,000 for the property.
Onsite vegetation includes knobcone pine woodland, mixed evergreen forest, northern mixed chaparral, chamise chaparral and redwood forest, says the press release. The property is potential habitat for wildlife species including the Crotch’s bumble bee, California giant salamander and Santa Cruz black salamander. The land is also within a designated wildlife corridor.
The property provides an alternate route option for the Uvas Reservoir-Summit Trail, a connector trail envisioned in the Master Plan to connect Uvas Reservoir with Uvas Canyon County Park, Little Uvas Open Space Preserve and the sub-regional Mt. Umunhum to the Sea Trail, county officials said.
Although the property will not be open to the public immediately, the site is now protected forever “and residents can look forward to enjoying new trail connections in the years to come,” says the press release.
