Gilroy
– Spring sunshine blessed hundreds of visitors exploring the new
Coyote Lake-Harvey Bear Ranch County Park when it officially opened
this weekend.
Gilroy – Spring sunshine blessed hundreds of visitors exploring the new Coyote Lake-Harvey Bear Ranch County Park when it officially opened this weekend.
Various dedication events Saturday at the 4,595-acre park drew hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrian riders to the celebration.
On one “dog-walk” hike, about 30 nature lovers joined their canine friends on a 3.1-mile tour of the trails. On a water stop along the Coyote Ridge Trail, park ranger Rhonda Southworth explained how the new park adds more than 4,000 acres of beautiful foothill terrain to what was once Coyote Lake County Park.
“We went from 800 acres to over 4,500 acres in just under 24 hours, so we’re really excited,” Southworth told the hikers of this weekend’s celebration. “This is the first time it’s really open to the public.”
The park is the second largest in the county system, she said. Only Grant Ranch County Park east of San Jose is larger. Southworth pointed out the panoramic view of South Valley. Spread out below were the communities of Gilroy, Morgan Hill and San Martin. Weekend traffic rolling along far-off Highway 101 appeared like an ant line.
Saratoga resident Mary Ann Graziano came to the South Valley park – with her dog “Mischa” especially to enjoy the organized hike.
“This is so nice,” she exclaimed. “It’s nice because you can walk your dog here.”
San Martin resident Debbie Blanchard agreed as she strolled up the trail with “Missy,” her Queensland Healer. She lives near the park’s Harvey Bear Ranch entrance on the westside just off San Martin Avenue. Since first moving to the South Valley, she’s gazed at the foothills with anticipation of one day enjoying them as a public park, she said.
“We’ve been waiting for this to open for 23 years,” she said.
Lisa Killough, director of the Santa Clara Parks and Recreation Department, welcomed special guests and the public to the festivities during a special dedication ceremony.
“The heroes of our celebration today are our very park employees and volunteers … who made this park possible,” she told the crowd.
In a heart-warming address, Brent Bear, son of rancher Harvey Bear who was the original owner of the land, described how his father would be pleased the public can now enjoy the wilderness property.
“It’s a day of celebration,” he said. “We’re very happy to see the park named after my father.”
Bear related how he and his family felt an affinity to the land.
“This ranch was our home,” he said. “I feel we did a pretty good job of taking care of it. Now it belongs to all of you. It’s up to you, the public and the county parks, to responsibly take care of this park.”
County Supervisor Don Gage told guests how he’d recently found a newsletter from years ago that forecast the new park would be open by the spring of 2005. “And by God, they did it!” he said.
“I want to thank the Bear family for their vision because this is a huge contribution to our county park system,” Gage said.
Another dedication ceremony speaker, Paul Romero, the Chief Deputy Director of the California State Parks system, described the day years ago when Brent Bear showed him the historic ranch.
“He took me on a tour of the property, and it was one of the most exciting experiences I’ve had,” he said.
Romero played a role in negotiating the rights to purchase the land.
The county spent $11.6 million in 1997 to buy the 2,968-acre Bear Ranch property. An additional $2.5 million in funding purchased the adjacent 711 acres of Mendoza Ranch from Russell and Carolyn Mendoza, Lassen County residents.
Funding to develop the new Harvey Bear Ranch park came from Santa Clara County’s Park Charter Fund as well as a $200,000 grant from the California Coastal Conservancy and a $200,000 from the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
“Now the time has come to celebrate and enjoy it,” Romero encouraged guests at the dedication ceremony.
One cowboy equestrian who enjoyed the special dedication day horse ride was San Martin resident Gary Nilmeyer. He recalls how, as a young lad, he and his brother Bob would get permission from Harvey Bear to ride their horses on the ranch roads. Harvey Bear would especially have liked the fact the park is open to horseback riders, he said.
“I think Harvey would have appreciated it because he loved to see my brother and me riding on it,” he said. “He’d smile and wave.”
Nilmeyer described Harvey Bear as an intelligent and hard-working rancher who took good care of the property. “He was basically a quiet, private man,” he said. “He wasn’t you’re happy go-lucky beer-drinking rancher.”
Activities at Bear Ranch Park range from camping, hiking, fishing, boating, mountain biking, horse-back riding. Plans will eventually include 20 more miles of trails, development of the Bear Ranch entrance parking lot, an off-leash dog section, and a golf course near the Harvey Bear Ranch entrance.
The park has a rich history. The Unajaima Ohlone Indians lived in the area for about 4,000 years. In 1776, the Spanish explorer Juan Bautista De Anza passed through the southern boundary during his Bay Area exploratory expedition. In the 1830s, Mexican Governor Figueroa granted much of what’s now the park territory to Juan Maria Hernandez who named his 8,927-acre ranch Rancho Ojo del Agua de la Coche – or “Eyeful of Water” – because of the property’s natural springs.
In the 1840s, Martin Murphy Sr., purchased the property after having led his family over the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, as members of the Stephen-Murphy-Townsend Overland Party.
