Guadalupe River Park and Gardens Part 3 North, San Jose, California

Guadalupe River Park and Gardens
Part 3 North: Guadalupe Gardens to I-880

This page covers the north part of the trail from the Guadalupe Gardens to I-880. The Guadalupe Gardens are on the west bank of the river between Coleman Avenue and Taylor Street. The Guadalupe Gardens are under the flight path to Mineta San Jose International Airport. That's one of the reasons why there's a garden here and not homes. Over 630 homes were removed from this area starting in 1975 because of airport noise and safety concerns. The gardens currently include the Courtyard Garden, Heritage Rose Garden, Historic Orchard, and Taylor Street Rock Garden.

The gardens are a good place for plane-watching. Here, near the northwest corner of the park, is a field of poppies and a small hill.

View of the Courtyard Garden

View of the Courtyard Garden in the foreground and the Heritage Rose Garden in the background

Courtyard Garden path lined by roses and irises.

Courtyard Garden

Courtyard Garden

Sunflowers at the Heritage Rose Garden

Heritage Rose Garden

Heritage Rose Garden

Historic orchard

The Visitor & Education Center, located at 438 Coleman Avenue, is the headquarters of the Friends of Guadalupe River Park & Gardens. Meetings and Educational programs are held here.

Pune, India sister city monument

This is the Guadalupe Gardens Taylor Street Demonstration Rock Garden, which runs along the sidewalk for two blocks alond West Taylor Street, next to Columbus Park. The purpose of the garden is to demonstrate low-maintenance and water-efficient landscaping, using drought-tolerant plants.

North of Coleman, the character of the riverbed changes dramatically compared to the sections to the south. Instead of the concrete river channel and flood control culvert, the river here widens out, with gently-sloping banks. During low flows, the river is confined to a narrow channel, surrounded by vegetation, and with small dams. The vegetation along the banks provides shade for the fish in the river.

Park and lawn north of the Taylor Street Bridge

South side of the West Taylor Street Bridge

North side of the West Taylor Street Bridge

Natural vegetation along the river

Trees lining the river trail

West Hedding Street Bridge

Near the end of the trail is a memorial bench and the Hwy 880 bridge.

The trail goes under the I-880 bridge, then up to a levee road, paralleling Airport Blvd. and Mineta San Jose International Airport. To see this route, see the Guadalupe River Trail: I-880 to Hwy 101. To see the trail north of 101, see the Guadalupe River Trail: Hwy 101 to Alviso.

Created by Ronald Horii, 7/19/07, updated 1/20/08