Storm damage prompts San Jose to keep Alum Rock Park closed
SAN JOSE -- San Jose Park Ranger Danny Nguyen dodged boulders on his way up the Penitencia Creek trail in Alum Rock Park, now heavily damaged and impassable after the storms.
"So, this is a good example of why, in general, the park is closed," Nguyen said, standing beside two boulders the size of washing machines.
The battering the park took from recent storms triggered massive rockslides.
"This is not yet the full extent of the damage. We're only about halfway through the storms right now. You can imagine it will probably get worse before it gets better," Nguyen said.
Alum Rock Park in the eastern foothills of Santa Clara Valley is San Jose's oldest and largest city park.
It's only about five miles from downtown but, with its steep and narrow canyons, vertical rock formations and century-old stone bridges, it feels much farther away.
Nguyen has been a ranger here since 2016.
"This park is known for flooding. Flooding is a crucial part of its history but this is the worst I've seen it," he said.
The city closed the park for public safety during the storm on New Year's Eve and it has been shut ever since.
The creek, barely a trickle for most of the year, became a raging river.
It overran and undercut its banks along the main road into the park, taking out one lane.
There are also numerous old oak trees that came down. One of those trees -- estimated to be about 100 feet tall -- was uprooted next to a picnic area.
Numerous mudslides from oversaturated hillsides that are still dripping wet block roads and trails
The storm also toppled the new Alum Rock sign built into a hillside at the park's entrance.
Ranger Nguyen couldn't even estimate when the park will be safe enough to reopen.
"Right now, the park is extremely dangerous. We'll try to get it reopened as soon as possible ... it's closed until further notice."
Nature made Alum Rock Park what it is and, as this month has shown, nature still isn't finished with it.