Excursion to Deer Hollow Farm

Maybe it’s the sense of calm presented by the animals or the way dust-mote speckled sunlight shines through the wood slats of a barn, but there is something about farms I find utterly bewitching. Deer Hollow Farm in Cupertino is no exception.

Nestled within a valley of the 4,000-square-mile Rancho San Antonio County Park and Open Space Preserve, the peaceful, shaded property features grazing livestock, an abundant kitchen garden, an orchard and the kind of old-timey hay barns that simply demand to be photographed. Naturally, such a place represents heaven for yours truly, and I planned my whole week around paying a visit.

It might seem odd that Silicon Valley, home to multinational companies at the very forefront of technology, could include a 160-year-old working farm, but perhaps it’s that irony that makes Deer Hollow all the more special. The farm and its associated, volunteer-run educational programs are ideal distractions for young families, school groups and animal lovers in general. As an added bonus, entrance and parking are free – seemingly a rarity in the San Francisco Bay Area, land of $30-a-head museum admittance.  

Deer Hollow Farm is located just off North Foothill Boulevard, behind Maryknoll Seminary, the green-roofed complex that looms over Interstate 280 where the highway curves to meet Interstate 85. Cristo Rey Drive is a meandering road that passes entrances to upper class neighborhoods before leading to the Rancho San Antonio County Park parking lot. From there, visitors must hike the Lower Meadow Trail about a mile to arrive at the farm, but the path is leisurely and crosses over idyllic streams and under the canopies of majestic oak trees. Fearless fox squirrels, quail and, of course, black-tailed deer, populate the woods and can often be spotted near the path, a portion of which is paved to accommodate bicycles, strollers and authorized vehicles.

Eventually, the Lower Meadow Trail funnels into a small clearing containing a cluster of buildings (barns, apple house, greenhouse, blacksmith shed) and the fenced pens accommodating the residents: sheep, goats, chickens, geese, ducks, pigs and beautiful jersey cows. Many of the structures date back to the mid-1800s and were built by Theodore F. and George H. Grant, the original owners. In 1860, the brothers purchased 360 acres of what is now the preserve and grew wheat and raised horses and dairy cows. Their family owned the property for 77 years.

By chance, I happened to meet Kira, a fellow volunteer from the Peninsula Humane Society Wildlife Department, and together we took a self-guided tour of the property, stopping to marvel at an ancient horse skeleton in a barn stall and peek in the windows of the two-bedroom cabin where the Grants lived. The home is furnished to appear as it did during their lifetimes. Visitors are not permitted to touch the livestock, but we introduced ourselves from afar. Afterward, Kira and I hiked the Wildcat Loop and High Meadow Trails to take in the panoramic views of the Vista Point. From that height, we could see the white sails of the distant Shoreline Amphitheater and the hazy East Bay mountains. It proved a satisfying end to the morning’s adventure.