Trails near Belwood, Belgatos, Surmont and Heritage Grove neighborhoods

A Heintz Open Space hiking trails entrance with park signHave you explored all of our nearby parks? The Belgatos Park Trails connect directly to two open space preserves with a large network of paths, to hike, bike, or venture on horseback: the The Heinz Open Space Preserve and Santa Rosa Open Space Preserve.

Or if you’d like to learn more before you explore, check out the Town’s park guide, or print a copy and bring it with. We have additional details on Belgatos Park here on the Belwood Blog as well as park-related articles and news for neighborhood residents which can be found under the Belgatos Park tag and Trails tag.

Interactive Map of Trails

My husband, Jim Handy, drew out the local trails on Google Maps and this provides a much better sense of what’s where. Enjoy!


View Blossom Hill Trails in a larger map

Park for Parks

The Town of Los Gatos is hosting Park for Parks, a fun and informative event, at Belgatos Park on Saturday, October 23, 2021 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Bring your lunch and learn about bird watching, mountain biking, and much more.

There will be live music and a variety of booths (no food booths that I can find). All the details are on the town’s website – links posted below.

Belgatos Park - park for parks

Park for Park info on booths and what’s happening at this Belgatos Park event:

Check out all of the details on the town’s website page dedicated to events.

Belwood, Belgatos, Surmont neighborhood

Welcome to our site regarding a beautiful neighborhood in east Los Gatos, including Belwood of Los Gatos, Belgatos, Surmont, and adjacent tracts & subdivisions. Here I’ll provide ongoing real estate information, some events that are happening in the community, photos of Belgatos Park and other nearby areas, and items of concern to residents in this pretty corner of Los Gatos.

Please note that this is NOT the Belwood Homeowner’s Association website. For the HOA site, and phone numbers for the Cabaña or HOA, for lifeguard jobs, please visit BelwoodHomes.org

Enjoy this slideshow of photos of our scenic neighborhood.

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Harwood Farms horse boarding

Water District removing 89 trees

The San Jose Water District announced that 89 trees will be removed near the water storage tanks in Belgatos Park. The work begins September 5th and should end by the 22nd, and work will run between 8am and 5pm.

Due to the heavy rains last year, some infrastructure needs repairs. With the water district removing 89 trees, there will be the ability to upgrade the water main.  The notice can be viewed below for those who missed it.

San Jose Water District letter regarding tree removal and work at the reservoir in Belgatos Park

San Jose Water District letter regarding tree removal and work at the reservoir in Belgatos Park

A walk through Belgatos Park

It’s an unusually sunny, warm winter day here – projected highs are in the low to mid 70s!  This morning my daughter and I walked through some of Belgatos Park, taking in the views from the Ridge Trail.  Here are the images – pretty as they are, they don’t do it justice!

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Fire in Belgatos Park near Bacigalupi and Westhill Drives, believed started by 3 kids, contained within an hour by fire department

A fire was set, apparently by three kids, in Belgatos Park this afternoon. (Whether by accident or on purpose remains to be known.)  Homes were evacuated along Santa Rosa and flames got terribly close to houses on Westhill Drive, but fortunately no residences were harmed by the blaze.  Fire fighters arrived by land and air very quickly, and within an hour, the fire was under control.

Fire in Belgatos Park near side entrance on Bacigalupi Drive.    Photo by Trish McCauley trish.mccauley@gmail.com

Fire in Belgatos Park near side entrance on Bacigalupi Drive. Photo by Trish McCauley trish.mccauley@gmail.com

At the time of its eruption, I was in central San Jose at a listing presentation.  When I got out, around 4:30pm, I checked messages and had a text from my friend and wonderful pet-sitter, Trish McCauley, who alerted me to the situation. She also took a couple of photos.  At left is one she took from Bacigalupi Drive at the intersection with Belwood Gateway.

Luckily, though, the word got out about the fire via social media, too:

For those of you who are on Facebook, there’s a group called Belwood Area Residents with great info shared. Pauline Wilson broke the news there at 3:33pm today.  Photos posted by Dave Klenske of the work going on to contain the fire by air and the smoldering fire too. If you are on FB and a resident, join the group if you haven’t done so already and have a peek at his pics: http://www.facebook.com/groups/105901399446505/

Mention was also made on the Nextdoor site for the neighborhood too by Kate Carr – many thanks for spreading the word!  (If you haven’t joined, please do!)  Http://www.belwood-belgatos.nextdoor.com.

(Unless you happen to be connected to someone who sees the fire and alerts you, it’s great to get an update by a large group of neighbors such as we find on Nextdoor and Facebook, so I highly encourage everyone to join both sites.)

Back to our household –  Jim was out at an appointment at the same time that I was, too, but when we converged at home, he and our daughter, Clair, walked up to the park to see what, if anything, was still going on. He spoke with Ranger Dave Gray, who said that 3 kids (appx age 10?) were seen running from the area when the fire started.   Jim also  chatted with a neighbor, who said she saw the kids running away and explained that they were “young teenagers”.

Clair, meanwhile, kindly took a lot of photos for me so that I could share them with anyone else who wasn’t around when everything happened.  Below are the photos she took for this blog.

Belgatos Park, Los Gatos,  Fire July 23 2012 - scorched grassy area by Bacigalupi Drive gate

Belgatos Park, Los Gatos, Fire July 23 2012 - scorched grassy area by Bacigalupi Drive gate

“Cardboard hill” is a blackened mess right now.

Firefighters cleaning up July 23 2012 at Belgatos Park, Los Gatos

Firefighters cleaning up July 23 2012 at Belgatos Park, Los Gatos

After several hours of work, the firefighters rolled up hoses and prepared to call it a day.

Firetrucks close up at Belgatos Park, Los Gatos

Firetrucks close up at Belgatos Park, Los Gatos

There were multiple fire trucks and other vehicles from the Santa Clara County Fire Department, but also helicopters and planes from the CDF involved today.

Ranger Dave Gray on the scene at the Belgatos Park, Los Gatos,  fire cleanup

Ranger Dave Gray on the scene at the Belgatos Park, Los Gatos, fire cleanup

 

UPDATE:  Patch Los Gatos reports today that 3 14 year old boys were involved, one of whom started the blaze using lighter fluid.  The teen, a resident of San Jose, was arrested, charged with felony arson and has since been released to his parents.  Read the article here:
http://losgatos.patch.com/articles/fire-at-belgatos-park-burns-3-acres