Published in the October 30, 2013 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
Marty Cheek
The view from the top of Bear Mountain puts into perspective what a magnificent wilderness recreation area residents of Morgan Hill are blessed with just a few miles east of our city. Any adventurous person braving the steep climb to the top of this peak is rewarded by a 360-degree panorama of receding rows of Diablo Range mountain ridges covered by California chaparral and oak woodland.
Much of this land belongs to California citizens as the 87,000-acre Henry W. Coe State Park. California’s second largest state park came into existence thanks to Sada Coe Robinson, the daughter of the park’s namesake rancher.
In 1953, Sada gave her 12,230-acre Pine Ridge Ranch to Santa Clara County to serve as a park for the people. She saw the beginnings of Silicon Valley and the urbanization of Santa Clara Valley following World War II and she worried that the region was fast losing its farming and ranching heritage.
Sada also saw the need for the residents of the valley to find an escape from fast-paced city life and return to the primal experience of natural wonders.
The county government had a difficult time managing its first public park and so it passed the ranch property on to the state of California in 1958 for $10. In the ensuing decades, Henry Coe’s boundaries expanded as other ranching families sold their land to the state for inclusion in the wilderness park.
In her book The Lost Trails of Santa Clara, Sada recalled her younger years growing up on the ranch. “The world I grew to know was the mountains as ranges!” she wrote. “Wilderness and long-horned cattle! My cradle was my father’s strong arms and a blanket across the front of his saddle.”
Sada proved herself in the arduous ranching life. Barry Breckling, one-time a state park ranger at Henry Coe, wrote of her: “Most of the cowboys said she could ride a horse almost as well as the men. A few, probably the more honest ones, said she could outdo any of the men. One old-timer told me he could still see her in his mind’s eye, galloping full out down a ridge, moving so fast the brim of her hat was flattened against her head by the wind.”
Sada understood something about human nature, an aspect of the human psyche that is even more relevant for us today in our world of high-tech gadgets and municipal industry. Getting out into nature frees our minds and souls from the shackles of the urban world.
It’s mentally and physically healthy to have a place near our homes where we can explore the hills, valleys, pines and oaks of the natural world. It’s healthy to take the time to follow the old ranch roads and trails of Henry Coe State Park, rarely seeing another human being in our exploration of nature.
It’s especially good for young children and teenagers to be introduced to nature at the park started by Sada Coe so that they can appreciate the outdoors and surrender to a sense of awe in the wilderness.
The park is open year-round for hikers, mountain bikers, backpackers, equestrians, car campers, picnickers, photographers and people who simply like to visit parks. For more information call (408) 779-2728, or visit www.coepark.org.
