Hiking through Almaden Quicksilver Park

A geocaching friend of mine suggested a hike through Almaden Quicksilver, starting at the Hacienda trailhead and ending at the McAbee trailhead. Five of us made that approximately 8 mile hike today. I found it very enjoyable.

The temperature was very nice—quite comfortable when hiking in the sun and just a little chilly when in the shade. The visibility was quite good—the San Francisco skyline was easy to spot. From the Hacienda trailhead, the trail climbs steadily for over a thousand feet gain in elevation, but since the trail is an old wagon road, it’s not that steep.

The trail passes through a historic mercury mining area. Old mine shafts and a few mining relics dot the area. It’s a fun place to explore. On this hike, however, we stuck to the ridge-top-following Mine Hill trail and only stopped at a few mining sites. Because we were on the ridge we often had views of sweeping vistas including the south bay, Mt. Hamilton, and San Jose neighborhoods just below us. Fall colors, such as there are here in California, were abundant.

Links
—Almaden Quicksilver hike photo gallery
—Hike track on Everytrail