A Farm in San Jose? And How! Visit Martial Cottle Park
A fantastic local park great for running, walking, jogging or bring the family out for a day.
Reviewer on Yelp
The idea of farms in 21st Century San Jose, a famously dense and sprawling city, is counter intuitive. But they exist and are well worth visiting for their serenity, activities, and educational importance.
Martial Cottle County Park
Its 287 acres in South San Jose comprise the largest surviving farm in the city. It is a throwback to a 100 years ago when agriculture thrived in what Jack London called “the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley.”
The Park has been a working farm since its founding in 1865. It remains so today through leased fields.
With its unobstructed views of the Santa Cruz Mountains and Diablo Range, one has the sense of standing in a Valley, which is a rare feeling in the built-up South Bay.
Roughly two-thirds of the Park’s acreage has been reserved for farming. The remaining third seems vast and offers visitors a range of activities. Locals enjoy biking. running, and walking their dogs on its network of paths.
Try the 3.2 mile Martial Cottle Trail that follows the Park’s periphery. Even horseback riders can enjoy it. There’s zero elevation gain in the Park!
Enjoy a picnic at one of Martial Cottle’s five group picnic areas and see the Visitor’s Center near the Park’s entrance. Outside of it is a detailed multi-paneled timeline of the Park’s land from the original Native residents to the present. The small playground nearby has, you guessed it, figures of farm animals.
Martial Cottle’s so called “Community Partners,” organizations and groups that have been allotted space in the Park, have their own slates of events and volunteer activities. Interested visitors should consult the Partners’ websites for upcoming events.
UC Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County schedules talks and workshops at its Martial Cottle site. For a schedule of events see https://mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu/demonstration-gardens/martial-cottle-park/
Our City Forest
Across from the Master Gardeners is Our City Forest, an environmental nonprofit in San Jose. https://www.ourcityforest.org
Its two acre plot contains a garden of native plants, a nascent arboretum, and a large shelter for presentations by its Urban Forest Educational Center.
OCF depends on volunteers for its projects at Martial Cottle as well as at its propagating nursery by the San Jose airport and the regularly scheduled tree plantings at parks, street medians, and residences throughout the South Bay. Leaf your mark and plant a tree!
Want to take your arboreal skills to the next level? Become a Tree Amigo at OCF.
I confess to being very fond of Our City Forest and Martial Cottle. After 20 years as a staffer in big Silicon law firms (think windowless offices, trials, and nocturnal hours), I gladly joined OCF through AmeriCorps. One of the places I often worked was Martial Cottle.
I spent the last three years of my career enjoying a different work environment than what law offices provide. I was outside in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley.
History
The Martial Cottle Family Ranch was founded in 1865 by Edward Cottle, an emigre from Virginia. The family farmed the original 350 acre parcel until 2014.
In 2003, Edward Cottle Lester transferred his ownership of 287 acres to the County in keeping with his mother’s wishes. Their purpose is educating the public about the Santa Clara Valley’s agricultural heritage.
Visiting Martial Cottle
The Park is located at 5283 Snell Avenue near Branham Lane, which runs along its northern boundary. There is no charge for admission, but all-day parking inside the park is $6.00. Foot traffic can enter the Park free from Chynoweth Avenue adjacent to Master Gardeners and Our City Forest. However, Vehicle access is possible only at the Snell Avenue main entrance. Free parking on Chynowseth Avenue generally is available.
Park hours are from 8:00 a.m. to Sunset.
