Hellyer Park & Coyote Creek Trail

The good:
This park is great! There are long trails on which you can bike, walk, jog, rollerblade (it's smooth enough!) or walk the dogs. There's also fishing! There's a lake where there are ducks and (I don't know what type of) fish. There are pinata archways that are sturdy enough to hold your pinatas. There are several public restrooms. The best part about this area is the awesome playground spaces. They have an area with a water fountain and a splash pad with squirting water from the ground for kids to run through during hot weather days. There's also an outdoor shower for kids to rinse off. The playground has a super long and tall slide as well as climbable jungle gyms. This is a great spot for a kid's birthday. They also have covered picnic areas and large BBQ pits. I definitely want to come back and host a birthday here sometime. The tables are 1st come 1st serve. Parking is easy and plentiful.

The bad:
Some of the grassy areas are patchy with lots of poop.

The interesting:
It costs $6 to park. Sometimes there's a parking attendant there to collect the money, sometimes you pay by yourself with a machine, and sometimes the machine doesn't work and you don't have to pay.

Sitting in a line of traffic on Hellyer Avenue just to get near the parking lots, then paying a $6 fee to park (or waste time circling the nearby neighborhood for free street parking), just to be surrounded by endless crowds in a beautiful setting? Not worth it, it's not Disneyland.

This past weekend (Easter Sunday) was exactly that. Imagine a jam-packed backyard bbq in the barrio, with extended family in attendance, everybody and their mama taking up all the seats, out-of-control kids running amok, speakers blasting music (and not even good music, or worse, kids music!), echos of chatter from all over, creating a cacophony. Now multiply that by 10. Even though the park is so huge that the amount of people on site can be deceiving, the unpleasantness could certainly be felt!

The saving grace was some of the park's more unique features that could be appreciated... the fancy playgrounds (one of them with a three-level play structure and log slide), the splash pad and waterfalls, horse shoe pit, disc golf course, and Velodrome (bicycle race track). It's cool that it offers a few things that other parks don't typically have. But my favorite parts are the Coyote Creek Trail for running along the water, and Cottonwood Lake where you can somewhat escape from the crowds and sit on the giant rocks while ducks and geese swim right up to you at the shore.

I could imagine a more peaceful and inviting atmosphere here on a weekday maybe. It's definitely a lovely park with an abundance of open space and plenty of greenery and opportunities to explore nature. But due to the inconveniences, it may be a while before I return to Hellyer, it just isn't worth it to me. By the way, as of this past weekend (April 2023), several parts of the trail and park are blocked/closed due to flooding (from the recent rains) at different parts of the creek, including no access to the Velodrome.

Catering here today beautiful event so peaceful and calm definitely love the atmosphere here and the rangers came to bring trash bags which's cool and there cleaned the bathroom often was a big PLUS

I went to Hellyer Park during our summer school field trip with my students. There was a field trip once a week during the summer school "camp".. I'm not really fan of field trips. I'd rather be teaching in the classroom any day because I'm not a fan of riding on the school bus plus the day feels longer (and a little bit boring to be honest.)

This park was alright. It was cool that they have a playground and a water play area. Although you can definitely smell the chlorine of the water. Ugh... such a strong smell. There were kids there plus some teens. Teens were being rowdy and saying foul language, which was definitely not appropriate around my little ones. My coworker also said that some random man was walking around naked there, which was so not okay.

There is a lake so we took a walk around the lake, which the students kept on complaining that they're tired. Lol...

There are some tables with shade from the trees that people can sit to enjoy their lunch.

Personally, I wouldn't go to this park because I like places that have more ups and downs for hiking.

This park was fun for my baby. It does cost $6 to park, which I wish I would've known ahead of time, but whatever.

Don't make the same mistake that I did and park by the dog park and walk all the way to the playground. This was not pedestrian-friendly. It was way too far and I only parked there because the map makes it look like that's the only parking lot. There are, however, many parking lots closer to the picnic tables and playground. Go toward the Cottonwood entrance if you are there for the playground.

The water feature in the playground is still running as of today, August 6, 2022. My little guy had fun splashing around. If you bring your kid to the playground, be sure to bring towels and extra clothes/diapers/water shoes.

I like that the baby playground has lots of shade and has unique features like musical steps and very low toddler swings.

Beautiful park with so much open space that invites us to enjoy the great outdoors! We loved walking alongside Coyote Creek on the paved path that runs next to it. The mature trees create a serene place that helps you de-stress with the path ahead of you dappled with bright sunlight as it makes its way past the many branches and the gurgling of the creek next to you as the water moves swiftly downstream. The path leads you to Cottonwood Lake where the geese finds respite on the grassy expanse and the well designed children's play structures invite open play!

Water fountains and restrooms are available throughout the park.

At the other end of the path that runs alongside Coyote Creek, you will find 2 separate fenced in dog parks for small and large dogs.

We will be back to explore more trails!

Parking is $6 per day.
Annual parking passes are also available.

I was there today and really enjoyed the visit. This is a big park with a nice trail, a lake, a creek and a lot of picnic spots.

I went for a nice run on the trail and made many stops to take in the vistas and go down to the creek. The only minor con was that they were super busy and there were a lot of people (all masked up though) and there was a decent line to drive in.

I frequently visit this Hellyer Creek Park at least two three times aweek. We are here so often that most of the people who bring their dogs here are pretty familiar with us. There is a huge off-leash dog park within this park. That is where I usually take my baby here after we do a few rounds along the Trails. There is the creek with many beautiful trees surrounding this entire park! The long pathway Joggers/ Runners Trails also leads to the Mogan Hill areas. Sometime during our walks, I can see a couples of cows comes out on the Hilltops. That is such a beautiful sighting! There is a really nice Lake here as well that I really like! I Absolutely enjoy watching all these many ducks, turtles, birds and other wildlife here. It is quite Amazing here in the the summertime. There are just plenty more of Sunshines! In the Fall, this time of year, I love the calming peacefulness and the colorful leaves all around me!
I recommend checking out the entire park!
There are picnics areas with lots of seatings, kids playground, and few well kept restrooms throughout for the public.

This is a huge park with an open field, lake, playground, picnic area, and walking trails; and, it has an Olympic size velodrome (which I didn't get to see).

On and around Cottonwood Lake, you can see, if you're lucky, a variety of birds: Mallard ducks, Green Back and Great Blue Herons, Pied-billed Grebe, Canadian geese, American Coots and Widgeons, Egrets (Great and Snowy), double-crested Cormorants, and of course, seagulls. Not only are there birds, there are fish too. People are able to fish. From what I was told by a catch and release fisherman, there's bass, carp, bluegills, catfish, and rainbow trout.

There are plenty of benches around the lake and picnic areas with BBQ grills and picnic benches. What I thought to be especially great was the really cool wooden playground they had for kids. The structure had a lot of places to jump, slide, climb, and really be a kid. There's also a huge open field next to the playground to throw or kick a ball, to play soccer or football, or just lay down a blanket for a picnic.

It was great seeing people doing a variety of activities; everything from walking, running, biking, fishing, playing, picnicking, meditating, and even dancing (yes, dancing--and it was the tango).

I certainly will take my kids here! I know they will love it!

When I first moved to San Jose from the Peninsula around 2016, I found Hellyer park a fun place to ride my bike in/at/through, meditate and just plain chill out at. I like that this park is actually pretty big, lots of open space and also lots of trees and places to get some shade from the sun. Coyote creek runs though the park and that ends up way south almost by Morgan Hill/Gilroy area. I am pretty motivated on my bike and can withstand hours of riding my bike by myself, no talking, no music just determination and sweat and fun. Awesome times! I am VERY selective when I ride with other people, too much sight seeing, too many pit stops are plain time waster's IMO. Cottonwood lake is definitely a nice place to pond ripple watch and also wild life watch. Your're the best Hellyer.

_Enso

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Family friendly.

Kite flying.

Lots of grass though dried out as of September 2020.

Wild life.

Cottonwood Lake.

Velodrome down the way.


_I am amazing and we're alive!