Filled with more than 4,100 acres of green, grass-covered hills here in Northern California, Almaden Quicksilver County Park plays host twice during the year to the Hacienda Hills/Almaden Quicksilver County Park/New Almaden Half Marathon, 10K and 5K, one of a series of trail races hosted by Troy’s California Trail Runs, a series of more than a dozen races that take place throughout the year on trails and in parks around the state.
The New Almaden Haciendas Hills run is typically a small race, run on the challenging hills and trails of this park on the edge of San Jose’s Silicon Valley, which encompasses most of the mountain ridge known as the Capitancillos Ridge.
The park, which has a long history as a mining community and once was home to more than 1,800 miners and their families, today is a mecca for running, hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding, as it is home now to more than 30 miles of trails, including just over 20 miles of equestrian trails and 10 miles of bike trails.
Runners will start the out-and-back course for the race at the Hacienda entrance on the eastern edge of the park, near the town of New Almaden, and follow an out-and-back course from there in a roughly clockwise loop through the park.
