Happy Trails at Former Ranch in Pacheco State Park

The trees are a tip-off that it gets mighty windy in Pacheco State Park. Squat, flag-shaped oaks bow to the east, sculpted by the prevailing winds into picturesque poses.

An even more obvious indicator than the stunted oaks is the multitude of wind turbines strategically placed on Pacheco’s ridges. During the March-through-October “wind season,” Pacheco Pass is a veritable wind tunnel that whirls the propellers of nearly 200 windmills.

Pacheco is located at the environmental crossroads of the Coast Range, Diablo Range and San Joaquin Valley.

Although Pacheco seems far removed from the ocean, the Pacific plays a significant role in the area’s odd weather. An indentation in Monterey Bay puts the Pacific only 50 miles as the gull flies from the park, and its location at a gap between mountain ranges, combined with strong westerly winds, brings heavy coastal fog to the park during hot summer days.

The land around Pacheco Pass was originally part of a 48,000-acre Mexican land grant deeded to Juan Perez Pacheco in 1843. The Pacheco family soon built a tiny adobe fortress near a water hole at the base of Pacheco Pass.

Rancho San Luis Gonzaga stayed in the family for a century. Paula Fatjo, a San Francisco debutante and fifth-generation descendant of the Pachecos, moved into the ranch headquarters in 1948. She wanted to live the life of a rustic ranch, emulating her 19th century relatives.

Unfortunately for Fatjo’s pastoral way of life, the state of California began construction of the mammoth San Luis Reservoir, and Fatjo was forced to sell her soon-to-be-underwater ranch to the state in 1963. She then relocated her ranch 12 miles west to the top of Pacheco Pass.

Given the shabby treatment of Fatjo by the state government, it speaks well of her character and generous spirit that upon her death in 1992 she bequeathed her ranch to the state of California as a park “for the protection, maintenance and fostering of natural flora and fauna.”

Paula Fatjo’s funky 1960s-era ranch house is a mixture of adobe and wood frame construction. Murals with wildlife themes decorate the walls. Nearby stand two crumbling walls (damaged in Fatjo’s forced move), all that remain of the Pacheco family’s 1846 adobe.

An extensive network of former ranch roads makes up the park’s trail system. Paths and junctions are well signed. Rangers suggest that first-time visitors trek to the top of Spikes Peak, the park’s 1,927-foot high point, for a good overview of the area. The reward for the climb is a 360-degree panorama from the San Joaquin Valley to the crest of the Sierra Nevada.

Directions to trail head: From U.S. 101 in Gilroy, exit on California 152 and travel 24 miles east. Turn right (south) on Dinosaur Point Road and proceed 0.4 mile to the entrance for Pacheco State Park. Follow the park’s short gravel road to a parking area and the main trail head.

From Interstate 5, you also can take the California 152 exit near Los Banos and travel west to the state park.

Park hours are 8 a.m. to sunset, and there is a $5 per vehicle fee.

The hike: Join signed Spikes Peak Trail (a dirt road) heading south. Pass through a gate and walk along a fence separating hikers from bovine park users and their pasturage.

After 0.5 mile, Spikes Peak Trail bends west and soon passes signed junctions with both the north and south segments of Pig Pond Trail (your return route). The path climbs grassy hills, serving up views of historic Pacheco Pass to the north and a few dozen windmills on slopes to the east.

Keep climbing south on Spikes Peak Trail as it junctions with three east-west paths: Tunnel Monument Trail, Up & Over Trail and Spring Ridge Trail. A last 0.3-mile climb past the junction with Spring Ridge Trail brings you to the crest of Spikes Peak. It’s a modest promontory, but one with great clear-day views: Fremont Peak to the southwest, Pacheco Peak to the west, Mt. Hamilton to the northwest and the Sierra Nevada to the east.

From the summit, descend on signed South Boundary Loop Trail 0.4 mile east to a junction with Canyon Loop Trail and join this path as it drops north into a lovely oak-filled draw. The path zigzags past junctions with Up & Over Trail and the eastern leg of the Canyon Loop Trail before joining Pig Pond Trail. True to its name, the trail soon passes a pond named for the feral porkers and continues north to meet Spikes Peak Trail. (You can retrace your steps by following this dirt road 0.7 mile back to the trail head.)

For a different return route of about the same distance, briefly travel east on Spikes Peak Trail, then resume a northward course by getting back on Pig Pond Trail.

As you approach park headquarters, you’ll need to hop a low barbed wire fence, then walk through a cow pasture. Stroll over to the historic ranch buildings and view Paula Fatjo’s ranch house and the Pacheco family adobe. Hike 0.1 mile along the park access road back to the trail head.

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Hiking/ Diablo Range

Spikes Peak, South Boundary, Canyon Loop, Pig Pond Trails

WHERE: Pacheco State Park.

DISTANCE: To Spikes Peak is 5.5 miles round trip with 500-foot elevation gain.

TERRAIN: Blue oak woodland, rolling grassland.

HIGHLIGHTS: Unique environment on crest of Diablo Range.

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: Moderate. For more information: Pacheco State Park, 31426 Gonzaga Road, Gustine, CA 95322; tel. (209) 826-6283.