Vasona Park
Encyclopedia
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
located in Los Gatos, California
Los Gatos, California
The Town of Los Gatos is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 29,413 at the 2010 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area at the southwest corner of San Jose in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains...
and part of the Santa Clara County
Santa Clara County, California
Santa Clara County is a county located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 it had a population of 1,781,642. The county seat is San Jose. The highly urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County is also known as Silicon Valley...
Parks system. Adjacent Oak Meadow Park is owned by the Town of Los Gatos. Vasona Park surrounds Vasona Reservoir, which, like Lexington Reservoir
Lexington Reservoir
Lexington Reservoir is an artificial lake on the Los Gatos Creek near Los Gatos, California. The James J. Lenihan Dam, a high, thick earthen dam, forms the third-largest reservoir in Santa Clara County.-Background:...
in Los Gatos' southern edge, was formed by damming Los Gatos Creek
Los Gatos Creek (Santa Clara County, California)
The Los Gatos Creek runs 24 miles in California through Santa Clara Valley Water District's Guadalupe Watershed from the Santa Cruz Mountains northward through the Santa Clara Valley until its confluence with the Guadalupe River in downtown San Jose...
. The reservoir is host to non-power recreational boating, and a marina on site has pedal boats for public rental in addition to docks and storage for small private sailing craft. The park is also home to the Youth Science Institute, several picnic pavilions, and several hiking/biking trails. The popular Los Gatos Creek Trail
Los Gatos Creek Trail
The Los Gatos Creek Trail is a 9.7-mile pedestrian and bicycle trail that runs through western Santa Clara County in California, from Lexington Reservoir in Los Gatos, California through Campbell, California to Meridian Avenue in San Jose, California alongside Los Gatos Creek...
, which runs from Lexington Dam to just short of downtown San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, passes through the park. It is one of the most popular parks in the south bay.
The land within the park's boundaries is among the most historic in Los Gatos. The grantees of the "Rancho Rinconada de Los Gatos", Jose Hernandez and Sebastian Peralta, constructed an adobe
Adobe
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
house on what is now one of the park's lawns. It was the first structure built in the area.
The narrow-gauge South Pacific Coast Railroad
South Pacific Coast Railroad
The South Pacific Coast Railroad was a narrow gauge steam railroad running between Santa Cruz, California and Alameda, with a ferry connection in Alameda to San Francisco. The railroad was created as the Santa Clara Valley Railroad, founded by local strawberry growers as a way to get their crops...
once traversed the western edge of the park en route to downtown and over the Santa Cruz Mountains
Santa Cruz Mountains
The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central California, United States. They form a ridge along the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco, separating the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco Bay and the Santa Clara Valley, and continuing south,...
to Felton
Felton, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Felton had a population of 4,057. The population density was 891.2 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Felton was 3,691 White, 25 African American, 29 Native American, 69 Asian, 11 Pacific Islander, 60 from other races, and 172 from...
and Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean, along the central coast of California. The bay is south of San Francisco and San Jose, between the cities of Santa Cruz and Monterey....
at Santa Cruz Wharf. The Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
later acquired the South Pacific Coast Railroad and converted the line to standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
after the turn of the century. A farmer near Pollard Road, Albert August Vollmer, contacted the Southern Pacific asking for a flag stop to be established to allow a more convenient place to board the train. The railroad not only agreed, but allowed him to name the stop. He chose the name "Vasona", which was the name of his favorite pony during his childhood. "Vasona Junction" was the point on the line where the tracks split off from the San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
-Campbell
Campbell, California
Campbell is a city in Santa Clara County, California, a suburb of San Jose, and part of Silicon Valley, in the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Campbell's population is 39,349...
-Los Gatos mainline with the Vasona Branch through the Cupertino
Cupertino, California
Cupertino is an affluent suburban city in Santa Clara County, California in the U.S., directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 58,302 at the time of the 2010 census. Forbes...
Hills to Palo Alto
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
, allowing more direct travel to San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. The name "Vasona" has reappeared locally ever since, including in the naming of the park. The dam was completed in 1934, and the railroad continued to run along the Western side of the reservoir until 1959. The railroad right-of-way over the reservoir is now University Avenue.
After the death of Southern Pacific engineer Billy Jones
Billy Jones
William "Billy" Jones , a seasoned veteran of the steam era who established the Wildcat Railroad in Los Gatos, California, was born the son of a teamster in the town of Ben Lomond, California, USA....
in 1968, a volunteer-led movement secured part of the park's southern end for the reconstructed miniature Wildcat Railroad which Jones ran around his prune orchard on Winchester Boulevard and Daves Avenue. The depot and engine house, concessions and souvenir stand, and W.E. "Bill" Mason Carousel are all in Oak Meadow Park, a short walk from adjacent Vasona Park. The railroad operates weekends year-round as well as daily during school summer vacations. Steam locomotive No. 2, 100 years old in 2005, was once again made operable after being reboilered over the course of about a decade.
Vasona Science and Nature Center
Opened in 1980, the Youth Science Institute - Vasona Science and Nature Center is a youth science and nature education facility operated by the Youth Science Institute. The center features natural history exhibits, live animals found in the Guadalupe WatershedGuadalupe Watershed
The Guadalupe Watershed consists of of land within northern California's Santa Clara County. This watershed is owned and managed by the Santa Clara Valley Water District...
region and a native plant trail. The center offers nature and science school and group programs, after-school science and summer camp programs.
The Vasona center is the administrative headquarters for the Youth Science Institute.