Almaden Valley

Almaden Valley commonly known simply as Almaden is a valley and neighborhood of San Jose, California, located in South San Jose. It is nestled between the Santa Cruz Mountains to the west and the Santa Teresa Hills to the east.

Almaden, named after the ancient Spanish mining town of Almadén, traces its history back to the 1820s, when Mexican miners discovered mercury deposits on Rancho Los Capitancillos, which later led to the establishment of the New Almaden mines. Almaden Valley, known for its abundant parkland, is one of the most expensive neighborhoods to live in San Jose and is consistently ranked as one of the most expensive areas in the country

Parks

 

Almaden Quicksilver County Park from the Guadalupe Reservoir.

 

View of the Calero neighborhood of Almaden Valley. In the center is Calero Lake and Calero County Park.

Almaden Valley is home to over 15 parks including 3 county parks, 3 lakes, 1 regional park, 1 open space preserve and several neighborhood parks:

Trails

Almaden Valley is home to an expansive trail system, including:

• Los Alamitos Creek Trail is a 9.4-mile out-and-back trail
• Almaden Lake Loop Trail, a 1.4-mile trail
• Almaden Quicksilver County Park, 4163 acres with several trails across the park
• Calero Creek Trail and Mine Trail, 18 miles of unpaved hiking trails
• Guadalupe Creek Trail, is a 1.7-mile trail
• Mount Umunhum trail, a 7.7 mile trail in the Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve to the summit of the mountain
• Senador Mine Trail, Mine Hill Trail, and Castillero Trail, a 12.7 mile trail
• Webb Canyon, New Almaden, Cinnabar, Mine Hill, Randol and Prospect #3 Loop Trail, a 5.4-mile trail
• New Almaden, Mine Hill and Guadalupe Trail Loop, a 13.6-mile loop trail

Also notably, Bay Area Ridge Trail, the 550-mile hiking, cycling, and equestrian trail being built on the ridgelines around all of San Francisco Bay Area includes Almaden Valley's Los Alamitos Creek Trail, Calero Creek Trail, Mount Umunhum Trail and Almaden Quicksilver County Park.

Education

 

Leland High School.

 

Almaden Branch Library of the San José Public Library

Almaden Valley students attend primary, middle and high schools across 3 different school districts, San José Unified School District, Campbell Union School District and Los Gatos Union School District. While most neighborhoods are in San José Unified School District, some in the northwest are in the Campbell Union School District, and some in the southwest bordering Los Gatos are in the Los Gatos Union School District.

Almaden Valley is served by the Almaden Branch Library of the San José Public Library.

Schools in Almaden include:

Public schools

• Leland High School
• Pioneer High School
• Bret Harte Middle School
• Castillero Middle School
• Dartmouth Middle School

Private schools

• Almaden Country Day School (K-8)
• Holy Spirit School (K-8)