El Toro is a prominent hill located along the eastern foothills of the
Santa Cruz Mountains
The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States. They form a ridge down the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco. They separate the Pacific Ocean from ...
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 ...
. The iconic landmark is partially owned by the city of
Morgan Hill
Morgan Hill is a city in Santa Clara County, California, at the southern tip of Silicon Valley, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Morgan Hill is an affluent residential community, the seat of several high-tech companies, and a dining, entertainmen ...
, and its silhouette is incorporated in the city logo.
History
In Spanish, "El Toro" means "The Bull".
According to local legend, 19th century American poet
Bret Harte
Bret Harte (; born Francis Brett Hart; August 25, 1836 – May 5, 1902) was an American short story writer and poet best remembered for short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush.
In a caree ...
named the hill when he climbed it and discovered two bulls fighting near the summit (they subsequently chased him back down).
Hiking
Although a portion of the hill is on public land, access to the summit is through privately owned surrounding lands.
Since 2008, the Morgan Hill Historical Society had sponsored annual spring hikes up to the summit. However, due to increased contention over
property rights
The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership) is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely and is typically ...
, no public hikes to the summit have been permitted since 2011.
In 2012, the Morgan Hill Parks and Recreation Commission re-initiated a study started a decade earlier to create a public trail to the summit. The results of the study and proposal for the trail are available on the Commission's website.
In 2013, the Commission held the first of a series of public meetings on the proposal to create the trail and associated facilities nearby.
In 2015, an "Access Strategy" to determine the proposed trail access points was developed by the Commission and approved by the City Council .
In 2016, the Commission will hold a public meeting on the proposal to create a non-paved public trail on the eastern side of El Toro, and to address concerns on safety, parking, litter, and impacts on wildlife.
Morgan Hill Public Meeting on El Toro Trail, November 2016
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See also
* List of summits of the San Francisco Bay Area
This is a list of named summits in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area that are more than above sea level. Note that there are no natural features above in the city of San Francisco.
Unless otherwise referenced, all data are from the Geograp ...
References
External links
*
Mountains of Santa Clara County, California
Morgan Hill, California
Mountains of the San Francisco Bay Area
Mountains of Northern California
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