Stevens Creek Trail Status

Mountain View Status

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Existing Trail

The 4.8 mile segment within Mountain View, with several underpasses and overpasses, is estimated to have cost over $17 million. The city completed the sixth trail section in 2009 when it extended the trail to Sleeper Avenue and also eliminated the street crossing of Moffett Blvd. with the addition of a new overpass.
The trail in Mountain View extends south from its connection to the Bay Trail in Shoreline park, past La Avenida trailhead, under Highway 101, past Whisman School and Park, under Middlefield Rd., past Creekside Park, under Hwy 85, over Central Expressway, past Landel's School over Highway 237 past the Yuba Drive trailhead, under El Camino Real, through a large meadow, past an access point at Sleeper Avenue, then over Hwy 85 to where it now ends at the corner of Dale Avenue and Heatherstone Way.

The final Mountain View segment, Reach 4 Segment 2, has been planned to be built in three phases/sections. Funding, design and construction will happen in pieces, as discussed below.

El Camino to Sleeper (Phase I):

This first phase is the already completed 3/4 mile section to Sleeper Aveunue. This opened in June 2009.

Dale/Heatherstone to Mountain View High School: (Phase III)

This final 1.0 mile segment would extend the trail south to Mountain View High School near the Los Altos-Mountain View border. Current cost estimate is approximately $13M. It is currently unfunded for both design and construction and is unscheduled.
Here is a May 2008 aerial depiction of the route (4.3 MB).

Moffett Pedestrian Crossing (Project 04-33):

This project began construction in June '08. It opened in June 2009 and now allows enjoyment of the full trail without crossing any streets.

More Information?

Want to hear the latest from us? Sign up on our Mountain View email alert list to receive email when a signficant event will be happening. For specific information about the trail in Mountain View,call the Mountain View Public Works Department at (650) 903-6311. Also, MV Parks and Rec maintains a Trail Closure Hotline at 650-903-6072, a recorded announcement with up-to-date info, especially during storm conditions that might necessitate a closure.

Cupertino Status

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For the latest from Cupertino themselves, check the Cupertino Stevens Creek Trail website. You might also like to review their Stevens Creek Trail Feasibility Study, completed in 2003.

Stevens Creek Corridor Project

This project concerns Stevens Creek as it runs from McClellan Road to Stevens Creek Blvd. The first work on this has been to restore the creek close to its original stream bed, as it was before Blackberry Farm was constructed. This is a longer meandering path so that rip-rap and other erosion controls are no longer needed. Following this restoration, the trail was built.

The big news is that as of July 4th, 2009, Cupertino now has open a segment of the Stevens Creek Trail. It is a 0.7 mile section of permeable concrete, multi-use trail running north along the creek from McClellan Road, past the 4-H farm and community gardens in McClellan Ranch nature preserve and ending (for now) at Blackberry Farm recreational park!!!

In Phase II of the Stevens Creek Corridor Project, begun in 2011 and continuing through 2013, the trail is planned to continue from Blackberry Farm Park, along the edge of Blackberry Farm Golf Course, through the city-owned Stocklmeir property, to Stevens Creek Blvd. This phase will take place in conjunction with other rehabilitation work happening at the Stocklmeir Property, and further restoration and realignment of the creek along this route. The Cupertino Parks and Rec department has organized a task force to provide input into the planning process. Visit the Stocklmeir Task Force Website for the latest on what is happening.

Rancho San Antonio

One possible route for the Stevens Creek Trail to connect from Cupertino to the cities to the north is through Rancho San Antonio to St. Joseph Ave in Los Altos. The work on this is actually being done by Santa Clara County Parks, so read about it below.

More Information?

Want to hear the latest from us? Sign up on our Cupertino email alert list to receive email when a signficant event will be happening.

Sunnyvale Status

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Stevens Creek, east of Hwy 85, is the border between Sunnyvale and Mountain View. The section of the Trail on the Sunnyvale-Mountain View border will be constructed entirely within Mountain View. Access from Sunnyvale to the trail in Mountain View has yet to be officially proposed or discussed.

In 1994 Sunnyvale created a General Plan amendment to oppose trail construction within the Stevens Creek corridor in Sunnyvale. On April 28th, 2009 Sunnyvale City Council approved a resolution to remove this restrictive policy from its General Plan. Sunnyvale is now engaged in discussions with the three other creek-side cities (Cupertino, Los Altos, and Mountain View), the so-called Joint Cities Working Group, on potential trail alignments with the goal of maximizing the regional benefits of a completed trail from the Bay to the Santa Cruz Mountains. Vice-Mayor Christopher Moylan and Transportation and Traffic Manager Jack Witthaus are the Sunnyvale representatives to this Stevens Creek Trail Working Group. In 2012, Sunnyvale hired a consultant to perform a feasibility study on behalf of the Joint Cities Working Group to look into creating the connection of the trail. This study will continue through 2013 and include multiple public input meetings.

Further south, west of Hwy 85, Stevens Creek is the border between Sunnyvale and Los Altos. Los Altos conducted a feasibility study of this area to see how it might link the Cupertino and Mountain View portions of the trail. The feasibility study did result in a preferred alignment, but further work is on hold while they, too, participate in the 4-City regional planning effort.

More Information?

Want to hear the latest from us? Sign up on our Sunnyvale email alert list to receive email when a signficant event will be happening.

Los Altos Status

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Perhaps motivated by a $5,000 contribution from the Friends of Stevens Creek Trail, Los Altos provided $20,000 in matching funds to secure a VTA grant for $80,000 towards a Stevens Creek Trail Feasibility Study. This began in May 2006. The money paid for a consultant, Alta Planning, to study the area. Two community meetings were held.

The first comunity meeting, held in May 2007, gathered ideas from the public about what they would like to see in a trail, where they would like to go, and concerns about a trail in their neighborhood.

The second comunity meeting, held in December 2007, shared with the public 5 possible trail alignments and gathered public opinion about each - both pro and con. The public was also asked to vote for their favorite alignment.

The feasibility study concluded with a final report from the consultant and a recommendation for preferred alignment. However, since the preferred alignment included trail segments in Mountain View and Sunnyvale as well as Los Altos, and also ties into Cupertino, Los Altos proposed taking a 4-City regional planning approach to evaluating the trail prior to undertaking any more detailed design.

More Information?

Want to hear the latest from us? Sign up on your Los Altos email alert list to receive email when a signficant event will be happening.

Santa Clara County

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In the county, most of the trail between Stevens Creek County Park (if that link doesn't work, start here ) and the top of the Santa Cruz Mountains is well-defined and partly completed. There are multiuse trails suitable for hikers, bikers, and equestrians.

One section being developed is in Rancho San Antonio where the Stevens Creek Trail has been routed alongside Permanente Creek from the most southern parking lot to the Hammond-Snyder historical house. Unfortunately, due to the Southern Pacific Railroad Tracks that lead to the Lehigh Permanente Cement Plant, the trail has been cutoff from reaching Stevens Creek Boulevard. However, after years of being stalled, in May 2009, with the help of the Friends of Stevens Creek Trail, a meeting took place with Lehigh, UPRR, Cupertino, and Santa Clara Parks. What came out of this is that a grade level crossing cannot be added here, but an above grade (bridge) crossing looks quite possible and UPRR would even support that, if it were to allow removal of the existing grade crossing used for maintenance vehicles. Until such time as an easement across the Union Pacific Railroad Tracks is granted, this trail will simply be known as the "Hammond-Snyder Loop Trail". More details on this crossing are kept on a separate webpage.

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