An easy micro near the southern trailhead of the Coyote Creek Trail
This is a milestone cache near the start (or end) of the Coyote Creek Trail in Morgan Hill. The Coyote Creek Trail is the longest multi-use trail in Santa Clara County. It starts at this point in Morgan Hill and runs north up the Coyote Valley and into San Jose. It is a County Parks trail all the way to Hellyer County Park, a distance of about 16 miles. It then continues as a San Jose city trail for another few miles to Tully Road. Plans are in the works to extend it all the way to San Francisco Bay. At this spot is the start of the paved bike path at Morning Star Drive and Eagle View Drive. This is a great place to start a long bike ride up the trail. If you go at the right time of year, you may have strong tailwinds blowing you back to the start at the end of the day. Also here is a large staging area, with a visitor center, ranger station, picnic tables, shade, horse trough, restrooms, and drinking fountain. There's a large gated gravel parking lot at the staging area. The gate may be locked at night. There is parking along the street right next to the bike path. Street parking is always available and plentiful. A gravel service road here eventually leads from the back of the ranger station to the equestrian trail along Coyote Creek. The entrance to Anderson Lake County Park is nearby down Malaguerra Ave. Don't go into the James Boys Ranch by accident, or you might not come out.
The cache is a pill bottle with a pencil. Be stealthy when retrieving this. It's a busy area, and there's a ranger station and homes nearby. No bushwhacking required.
To get here, take the Cochrane Road off-ramp from Hwy 101. Go east on Cochrane towards Anderson Dam and turn left on Malaguerra Ave. Don't go into the Boys' Ranch entrance. Stay on Malaguerra to its end at Morning Star Dr.
For more on the Coyote Creek Trail, see: (visit link)
12/22/11 update: the cache was buried or removed due to construction at the site. I replaced it with a similar temporary container at the same location. Hopefully, they are done with construction here.
2/23/21 update: the cache disappeared. I replaced with a pill bottle on the other side of the road.