Cool Ride Santa Teresa - Rocky Ridge and Stile Ranch trails Santa Teresa County Park rolls through the hills 10 miles south of downtown San Jose. This park's proximity to civilization makes it the perfect spot for a quick loop or two. When time is tight but the trails have to be right, give Santa Teresa a shot. We're talking rolling, grassy hills with exposed rock formations. The overall flow of the trails is pretty tame, but the rocks make this some of the roughest riding in the area. The best trails are definitely Rocky Ridge, which was used for a downhill race in October '03 (check out the report on leelikesbikes.com), and Stile Ranch. You can hit both trails in a nice, 6-mile figure eight. Here's the deal: Park in one of the lots by the shade structure and bathrooms. Go potty while you can, and be sure to kick down the $4 for parking. Enter the trail head to the east of parking area. As you drive in, it's just past the first big lot on the left, where the road turns sharply right. Head right and climb up the canyon floor on Hidden Springs fire road. Keep right at Ridge (at 0.2 mile) and Coyote Peak (at 0.6 mile). The trail you're on becomes Coyote peak. It becomes exposed and a bit steep. Just enjoy the view and keep on pedaling. When you reach Boundary (at 1.0 mile), hang a right down through the saddle. Hold your speed, because you need reach those towers you can see up ahead. Right before the towers, veer right on the Rocky Ridge singletrack. Get ready, 'cause this guy hauls the mail for 1.6 miles. The top is fast, flowy and usually really windy. Things get rockier -- and more interesting -- as you get lower. You can work on some technical lines here, but when in doubt just follow the main worn line. Upper Rocky Ridge. Photo courtesy of Michael Hawk (Michael has some sweet shots of Saratoga gap and the Demo on his site). Lars takes the crow line -- straight over the rocks. Like we said, the bottom of Rocky Ridge gets pretty darn rocky. Hey, maybe that's why they call it Rocky Ridge. ... Photo courtesy of Michael Hawk. If you want a micro mini loop, hang a right at Mine fire road. If you're in for "The Big Six," hang a left on Mine and cruise 0.25 miles to Stile Ranch trail. Lars and Curtis Keene cruise up Mine after a practice run down Rocky Ridge. Climb Stile Ranch for about a half mile up several switchbacks. Traverse the top of the hill, then get ready for the real deal: A very rocky, moderately steep series of switchbacks. This section will test even a burly downhill rig if you keep it pinned near the 15 mph speed limit. Rumor has it that NorCal's biggest suspension company does some testing here. At the bottom, hang a left on Fortini. Spin easy to Mine, then go straight back to the parking lot.

©Trail Head Cyclery, Inc. All rights reserved Site Maintained by Rudy Quan with contributing articles by Lee McCormack