Uvas Canyon Campout

Hooray, I can check off another overdue “to do” list item: this post and the associated gallery!

For the last few years we’d introduced Allison to camping by doing overnighters at Grant Ranch during Independence Day weekend. This year we wanted to attend our annual block party again, and while I enjoy camping at Grant, I was looking forward to trying out Uvas Canyon this time ’round.

Uvas is one of my favorite Santa Clara county parks. It’s small but it’s mostly very wooded, with streams, waterfalls,  and narrow trails. It’s also the least-used park in the SCCP system, which also very much appeals to me. It contrasts nicely with Grant Ranch, which is on the other side of the San Andreas and is more open grasslands and magnificent old oaks.

So a couple of weeks later than usual, I packed up the Jeep and we made our way to the park and the campsite I had targeted ahead of time as my favorite. Unfortunately, the earliest check-in time is 3pm (What is this, a hotel? Do they have maids that need time to make the beds there or what?!?) so that greatly limited our hiking options.

No matter, as the girls weren’t interested in any long hikes anyway. The late summer sunset meant we had plenty of time for the short stream loop, and Allison could frolic her little heart out in the water for an hour or two, which is exactly what she did.

Even though the campsites were all full, the noise and such was pretty mild for the most part. Still, I’d like to try camping here in the off season sometime, although I’d have to make sure I had a rainfly for our big tent by then. But I’d also like to camp someplace different next time, and work our way through all of the local drive-up camping options, as well as the backpacking ones.

The gallery for this one is on Facebook.