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Day Trips & Sips: Downtown Los Gatos & the John Nicholas Trail

One of Silicon Valley’s most charming downtowns offers excellent coffee options, great beers & wines, and proximity to an unforgettable trail in the redwoods.

By Ben Lilly

Mar. 5, 2024—Every Silicon Valleyite knows that the grandest redwoods in our part of California are in Big Basin State Park; the most numerous redwoods, out on the Santa Cruz coast. But the closest redwoods to our backyard are along Los Gatos’ John Nicholas Trail, just a hop, skip and jump beyond the strollable streets of downtown Los Gatos. And it couldn’t be a better combination. Read on for our ideal day of Trips & Sips in the Los Gatos redwoods.

COFFEE, ANYONE?

If you want to check out Los Gatos before hitting the trail and caffeinate while you’re at it, your options are many. We couldn’t possibly narrow it down further than this holy trinity of Los Gatos coffee shops, all clustered around the upper end of North Santa Cruz Avenue, downtown’s charming main drag. We’ll give you the lowdown on each one so you can choose yourself.

Great Bear Coffee Roasting (408-395-8607) boasts perhaps the most impressive pedigree. One of their first roasters upon opening in 1991 was trained by Alfred Peet (of Peet’s Coffee fame) himself. This is a dark-roast coffee aficionado’s choice.

Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company (408-354-3263), with its labyrinthine brick space full of antique equipment, is the oldest of the trifecta. It offers an atmospheric space to sit and enjoy your brew surrounded by the local community. (Both of these first two spots create and roast their own blends.)

Finally, Café Dio (408-827-9737), which serves Santa Cruz’s Verve coffee, is the café project of Greek restaurant Dio Deka. It’s around the corner from N. Santa Cruz Avenue next to a grassy park, where parallel parking spots can be easier to come by. Bonus points if you’re intrigued by the idea of Greek pastry.

THE JOHN NICHOLAS TRAILHEAD

The John Nicholas Trail is technically on land belonging to Sanborn County Park, but don’t put Sanborn in your GPS—that’ll take you to park headquarters in Saratoga. Instead, you’ll start up Highway 17 as if you’re going to Santa Cruz, then get off at Black Road and take it up, up, up. (Please, give the shotgun seat to the buddy prone to car sickness.)

On days of beautiful weather, the trailhead—just a small square of dirt in which to park—can get swamped, overflowing with cars parallel parked on the shoulder. On days like this, you’ll know you’re approaching the trailhead several curves before you get there. To prepare, you’d ideally bring a car with some clearance underneath in case your parking needs to get creative… but compact enough to do a three-point turn on narrow Black Road.

OPTION ONE: HIKE THE JOHN NICHOLAS TRAIL OUT-&-BACK

The first 1.9 miles of the John Nicholas trail follow a wide, evenly-graded fire road on the edge of the mountain. Truly impressive redwoods tower overhead, made to look even taller by the steep slope on which their trunks are piled higher and higher up. The mountainside is too steep for them to form a canopy, but that means you’ll get to marvel at these titanic pillars at the same time as you take in gorgeous views.

At the 1.9-mile mark you arrive at the small Lake Ranch Reservoir, a lovely and reedy lake during rainy season and a woodland marsh in dry season. Follow the trail around the lake and to the left, and you’ll hit the second section of the hike, a 3.3-mile climb on a much narrower trail with switchbacks and bridges. Here the yawning cathedral of redwoods and air turns into a mossy arroyo with thickets of bay laurel, then eventually opens up to broad hillsides covered with Douglas fir.

The trail ends at Skyline Boulevard, at the Sunnyvale Mountain trailhead. If you’ve been following the numbers you’ll observe that the full out-&-back of 10.4 miles is a doozy. Know that the end of the trail doesn’t hold any specific treasure, like a viewpoint or peak, so turning back at any time is a great option.

OPTION TWO: MOUNTAIN BIKE THE JOHN-NICHOLAS-TRAIL-TO-BLACK-ROAD LOOP

If you’re an avid mountain biker, you probably know about this trail–but if not, you’ll be excited to hear that the entire trail can be done by bike. We would cautiously split this into two options. If you’re a casual mountain biker or road cyclist, we recommend the 3.2-mile out-and-back to Lake Ranch Reservoir (perhaps a few times if you want to rack in the miles).

After the lake the path gets significantly more advanced, with rock-hopping and extremely tight switchbacks bearing two-way traffic. If you’re an experienced mountain biker and you know this is your cup of tea, an excellent option is to climb all the way to Sunnyvale Mountain, then turn left on Skyline Boulevard and left on Black Road to return to your car via a twisty descent—an 8.1-mile loop in total.

HOPS AND GRAPES

When you’re ready for a post-adventure refreshment, return to Santa Cruz Avenue, which plays host to two craft breweries. One of them is Loma Brewing (408-560-9626), founded by former major-league baseball player Kevin Youkilis. Youkilis was born and spent most of his career in Cincinnati, but upon retirement chose this woodsy corner of Silicon Valley to live out his California dream of opening a brewery. Lomas is located right on N. Santa Cruz Avenue, with a terrace ideal for people-watching and a full menu of good bar food.

Tucked into a parking lot at the top of downtown, Hapa’s Brewing (408-963-3942) is nevertheless a pleasant place to sit, offering an industrial-chic barroom with a patio. Hapa’s started as a homebrew project by friends Derek Tam and Brian Edwards, both South Bay natives. Both identify as hapa, a Pacific Islander term for mixed-race, which is sometimes used by Asian-Americans. They liked the way the term referenced the fusions of ingredients and flavors that made their best brews, at the same time as it riffed on the word “hops” – so the name stuck. Their beer is brewed at their flagship location in San José; the Los Gatos taproom is one of three locations. Tasty bar food is served as well.

If wine is your libation of choice, make a beeline for Rootstock Wine Bar (408-354-7668), which serves a massive selection of bottles and glasses alongside elevated tapas and snacks. Of course, Rootstock also has an outside terrace—if there’s one thing we can say about Los Gatos, it’s that the place understands the asset of its natural outdoor beauty.

SIPS AND… SCOOPS?

As a final stop in town, Dolce Spazio (408-395-1335), a traditional Italian gelateria, has been serving decadently creamy creations in the same spot since 1980. If the day is warm, strolling back to your car licking a melting scoop is the perfect victory lap. Warming back up after a chilly day in the woods? Go for the affogato, a shot of inky black Italian-style espresso poured over ice cream. Either way, this visit seals the deal on the fact that a day of outdoor activity followed by tasty treats is one of life’s sweetest things.

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