Hiking Anderson Lake County Park

I am still catching up on hiking posts from California. Anyway, one of my favorite hikes from the entire trip as the Anderson Lake County Park and Reservoir.

On the way up to San Francisco, my husband and I decided to stop at Anderson Lake County Park also known as Anderson Reservoir. Located in Santa Clara County, it’s a 4,275-acre artificial lake. At Anderson Lake County Park, there is plenty of activities, including fishing, boating, and hiking.

While the hike at Anderson Lake County Park is less than a mile to get from the park to the Reservoir, it’s scenic and beautiful. In fact, Anderson Lake County Park was one of my favorite hikes on the entire trip. I was not expecting that!

When we first got to Anderson Lake Park, we were confused and thought, “wow this is small.” We missed the turn to climb to the actual reservoir. We easily found the trail after a little searching. We like to think we took the “car scenic” way.

To get to the top, the trail at Anderson Lake County Park is steep. There isn’t any scrambling, but you do climb quickly. The top of Anderson Lake County Park is worth it though. I don’t know what I was expecting, but everything I expected was blown out of the water.

You could definitely hike around the Anderson Lake County Park and Reservoir, but we were running out of daylight and time. I would love to come back to Anderson Lake County Park sometime and do so! At the Reservoir, there was plenty of room and picnic areas, plus we saw a few power boats in the distance. I was not expecting that at Anderson Lake County Park.

Hiking anderson park santa clara county — On top of the Anderson dam

After checking out the damn for a little while, we looked over at the view of mountains. You could see for miles, and with the sun setting, it was one of the best I’ve seen in a long time.

In all, Anderson Lake County Park was one of my favorite hikes of the trip and that I’ve done period. Even though it’s only about a mile, it’s well worth the drive and stop.