Henry W. Coe State Park, State park in Santa Clara and Stanislaus counties, California.
Henry W. Coe State Park is a protected area in Santa Clara County and Stanislaus County, California, covering roughly 87,000 acres. Gentle hills alternate with steep ridges while dense oak forests, chaparral, and open grassland mark the varied elevations.
The land was Pine Ridge Ranch from 1905, when Henry Willard Coe Jr established a cattle operation there. After his death in 1943 the property eventually passed into state ownership and became a park.
Cattle ranching shaped these mountains for decades and old fences and trails still cross the slopes. Hikers often follow the same routes that ranchers and their herds once used to move between grazing areas and water sources.
More than 250 miles of trails cross the area and are open for hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding. The visitor center sits at the former Pine Ridge Ranch site and provides orientation before heading out.
This largest state park in northern California includes a designated wilderness zone of roughly 22,000 acres where mountain lions, tule elk, and wild pigs move freely. The remoteness and rough terrain make encounters with these animals possible though rare.
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