Christmas Hill Park is a 51-acre community park operated by the
City of Gilroy in southwest
Santa Clara County, California
Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring Sa ...
, US. The park provides trails for jogging, hiking and bicycling, as well as soccer and baseball/softball diamonds for group sports, and multiple picnic areas. The Christmas Hill Park Ranch Site adjoins east of the park, and provides an environmental education center, as well as additional sports facilities.
The park is open seven days a week from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm from March to October, and 6:00 am to 8:00 pm from November to February.
History
The park and adjoining ranch site have served as a base camp for
CalFire
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) is the fire department of the California Natural Resources Agency in the U.S. state of California. It is responsible for fire protection in various areas under state responsibi ...
managing recent wildfires in the region.
City Of Gilroy News, Loma Fire, October 2016
Santa Cruz Sentinel News, Summit Fire, May 2008
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The park also hosts the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival
The Gilroy Garlic Festival was a food festival in the United States, held annually from 1979 to 2019 at Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy, California, on the last full weekend in July. After cancellation in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a drive-t ...
. On July 28, 2019, a mass shooting
There is a lack of consensus on how to define a mass shooting. Most terms define a minimum of three or four victims of gun violence (not including the shooter or in an inner city) in a short period of time, although an Australian study from 200 ...
occurred during the Festival killing three people and injuring 15 others.
References
{{San Jose and Silicon Valley attractions
Parks in Santa Clara County, California
Gilroy, California