A Jewel of the South Bay’s Serpentine Grasslands Is Now Protected (and Open to the Public)
At the recently opened Máyyan ‘Ooyákma–Coyote Ridge Open Space Preserve, golden serpentine grasslands, dotted with boulders, plummet over a thousand feet into Coyote Valley. Sweeping views of the Santa Cruz Mountains lie to the west with downtown San José to the north. In spring, the grasslands erupt with wildflowers, including California poppies, lupines, mariposa lilies, goldfields, tidy tips, the rare Mount Hamilton thistle, and more. The federally threatened bay checkerspot butterfly, its wings flecked with orange, white, and black, flits and darts among the flowers.
“This is one of the biodiversity hot spots of the South Bay, a crown jewel,” says Lucas Shellhammer, planning manager for the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority.