Photo: "Braided Path Plaza" interpretive sign, near Julian Street in the Guadalupe River Park
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Photo: "Braided Path Plaza" interpretive sign, near Julian Street in the Guadalupe River Park |
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The Trail Network has a collection of interpretive signs posted along a few systems. The signage serves to explain the area's history, the nearby environment or design elements of a trail.
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The History of Rancho Santa Teresa This neighborhood and the adjacent Santa Teresa County Park were once part of a 9,647-acre Mexican land grant made to Jose Joaquin Bernal in 1834, in the days when Mexico ruled California. Fed by a year-round spring, Rancho Santa Teresa prospered under the direction of Bernal and his many descendants. >> more |
Albertson Parkway | ||
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Monterey Highway and the legacy of Mr. Gary Albertson In the 1960's and 1970's, the highways in Santa Clara Valley area experienced enormous increase in traffic due to rapid development. Some became dangeriously over-crowded. A number of residents rallied together to lobby for highway improvements and formed the San Jose Alliance of >>more |
Albertson Parkway | ||
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Bioretention system: protecting water quality Albertson Parkway's trail and landscaping have been designed to help minimize the impacts of stormwater runoff by incorporating a bioretention system. Runoff from the impervious paved trail drains into a specially-designed system of bioretention areas located in the landscaping along the trail. >>more |
Albertson Parkway | ||
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The Italian Neighborhood of Goosetown San Jose's Goosetown - a colorful, Italian-immigrant community - often smelled of fresh-backed, round breads from its many outdoor ovens. Neighbors stored wine, flour and smoked meats in their basements while they pressed grapes, talked with friends and made their own tomato paste in their backyards. >> more To be installed as part of Guadalupe River Trail Reach 6 - estimated opening date is Spring 2010. |
To be installed near Virginia Street (est. Summer 2010) |
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The Guadalupe River and the Native People Spanish explorers came upon this waterway in 1769. One wrote in his diary: "A full-flowing river, having a great many trees in tits bed, very tall thick cottonwoods, sycamores, willows" Eight years later, the famous Mexican expedition leader, Juan Buautissta de Anza named it Rio de la Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe - River of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The fledging pueblo of San Jose >> more |
To be installed near Virginia Street (est. Summer 2010) |
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Braided Path Plaza and Pool of Genes Just as the Guadalupe is braided with channels, the city that grew up along its banks is a rich mixture of cultures. At this monument, six braided paths symbolize the major ethnicities of the residents of San José, European, Native American, South American, African, Asian, and Pacific Islanders live side by side in this metropolis >>more |
Located south of Julian Street |
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Coleman Outlet Plaza California’s rivers move mountains. Year after year, landslides, earthquakes, and floods remind us that California’s landscape is involved in intense movement. The tectonic plates – two huge slabs of rock, thousands of miles long, grinding against one another – slide and collide along the continent’s western edge, literally >>more |
Located south of Coleman Avenue |
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Confluence River Monument For many cultures, including the Native American, confluence points are sacred. The power of the blended waters is believed to offer eternal spiritual realization. A few hundred feet north and west of this place, Los Gatos Creek and the Guadalupe River converge >>.more |
Located north of Santa Clara Street |
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Crossing Paths Monument The settlement that would become California’s first city, San José, was established on the east bank of the Guadalupe River in 1777. Here, where el Pueblo de San José was founded, Native Americans and Europeans crossed paths. This blending of civilizations is symbolically illustrated in a design composed of the >>more |
Located south of Julian Street |
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History Plaza Monument The first people to live along the banks of the Guadalupe River arrived as early as 8,000 B.C. The Mu-wekma, a tribe of the Ohlone, fished, hunted and traded local resources, such as abalone and cinnabar, with Native Americans from as far away as what is now Colorado and Nevada. In 1797 >>more |
Located north of St. John Street |
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Park Avenue Overlook Plaza About eleven thousand years ago, the climate worldwide began to grow warmer and drier. The oceans rose everywhere, and here in the Santa Clara Valley, forests of cypress, fir, and pine dwindled and were supplanted by oak woodlands and grasslands that sustained large grazing animals such as bison, >>more |
Located north of Park Avenue |
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Santa Clara Inlet Plaza Over time, streams shape the land. Conversely, a river in an urban setting is affected by the city around it. In the past, people didn’t pay attention to how a river worked. They ignored how a river such as the Guadalupe would naturally meander. They built highways and houses, dams and reservoirs. The river was then lined >>more |
Located north of Santa Clara Street |
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St John Street Plaza What is a hundred-year flood? It is a common misconception that this term refers to a flood that happens once every 100 years. In reality, it defines a flood that has a 1% chance of happening in any given year. The St. John Street Plaza, where you currently stand, sits above one of two underground bypass channels. These >>more |
Located south of St. John Street |
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Woz Way Plaza
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Sign 1 >>more |
Sign 2
>>more |
Sign 3
>>more |
Located beneath Highway 280, south of Woz Way |
Heritage Plaza |
Location Map
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Rendering - eye level
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Rendering - bird's eye
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Proposed installation -a construction schedule is not currently available.
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Park Plan Overview
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South of San Fernando Street
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Visit the park and see the Park Plan Overview presented on the west bank walls, from Park Avenue to Santa Clara Street. |
Located between Santa Clara and St. John Streets |
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Veteran's Memorial
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Along Park Avenue, east side of river
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History of Alviso Sitting at the marshy mouth of the Guadalupe River, the community of Alviso - named after a Spanish ranch owner - served as the Port of San Jose in the mid-19th century. Crowded steamboats carried passengers, cowhides and lumber, mercury ore and sacks >> more |
To be installed near Gold Street (est. Summer 2010) |
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Ecology of the Guadalupe River From its forested headwaters in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the Guadalulpe River captures storm water from a 109,000-acre watershed and channels it to the San Francisco Bay. This drainage area is the second largest watershed in Santa Clara County. >> more |
To be installed between Trimble Avenue and Highway 101 (est. Summer 2010) |
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Hetch-Hetchy Pipeline Deep underground crossing beneath the Guadalupe River and not far from this sign, stretch two enormous steel tubes – Bay Division Pipelines numbers 3 and 4. Big enough for a person to stroll inside, these pipes help transport millions of gallons of snowmelt and mountain rainwater 167 miles, from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir in Yosemite to National Park >> more |
To be installed between Tasman Drive and Montague Expressway (est. Summer 2010) |
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"Lupe" the Columbian Mammoth (Rendering and more information) On a warm, riverside walk in 2005, Roger Castillo saw a large bone barely exposed in the eroded clay of the Guadalupe River near the airport. The 44-year-old mechanic had discovered the most complete Colombian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) remains ever unearthed in Santa Clara County. As a boy, Castillow had fished this river from a small boat. >> more |
To be installed north of Trimble Avenue (est. Summer 2010) |
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History of San Jose Airport This interpretive sign installation will share stories and images regarding the airport's history and explain the science of flight. >> more |
To be installed north of Highway 880 (est. Summer 2010) |
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Auzerais Avenue Plaza
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Del Monte Cannery
>> more |
Cities along the trail
>> more |
Watershed
>> more |
Located at the Auzerais Avenue entrance to the trail |
Del Monte Plaza
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Entry Plaque
Dedicated to the cannery workers of the Valley of Heart's Delight |
Selected panels
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Selected panels |
Located on Hannah Street, south of Auzerais Avenue, on the east bank of creek |
Del Monte Cannery
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Water Tower
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Cannery Location
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Cannery Architecture
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Located along the trail, between Auzerais Avenue and San Carlos Street |
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For more than a century, San Jose has been a center for cycling sport. San Jose and Silicon Valley’s long history of cycling includes:
Some interesting links about local and general bicycle history:
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| Birding |
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The top 25 most common birds along a Santa Clara Valley waterways according to the Audubon Society.
| 1 | Mallard | 10 | Acorn Woodpecker | 19 | American Robin |
| 2 | Common Merganser | 11 | Nuttall's Woodpecker | 20 | Northern Mockingbird |
| 3 | California Quail | 12 | Downy Woodpecker | 21 | European Starling |
| 4 | Great Blue Heron | 13 | Black Phoebe | 22 | Spotted Towhee |
| 5 | Red-shouldered Hawk | 14 | Western Scrub-Jay | 23 | California Towhee |
| 6 | Red-tailed Hawk | 15 | Chestnut-backed Chickadee | 24 | Song Sparrow |
| 7 | Mourning Dove | 16 | Oak Titmouse | 25 | House Finch |
| 8 | Anna's Hummingbird | 17 | Bushtit | Learn more at www.birding.com | |
| 9 | Belted Kingfisher | 18 | Bewick's Wren | ||
Birds along the Guadalupe River
Checklists for Birding
Learn more about Santa Clara Valley's habitat.
Just for Kids
This coloring book features photos of birds and drawings for children to color. The birds featured are commonly found along Santa Clara County waterways.
