Picchetti Ranch OSP (Winter): Oak Woodland Waiting for the Rains

by Barry Langdon-Lassagne

Oak savanna, oak-bay woodland and chaparral habitat with spectacular views, uncrowded trails, free parking and good facilities make Picchetti Ranch Open Space Preserve in Cupertino an ideal place for a birding or nature hike. After heavy rains in the winter a seasonal pond fills, which can bring in ducks and other wildlife.

Trip Covers: December - March

Key Birds: Red-breasted Sapsucker, Hermit Thrush, Varied Thrush, White-crowned Sparrow, Townsend’s Warbler

How To Bird

Picchetti Ranch is one of my favorite places to go hiking and birding—quiet trails lead up and down hills, through oak savanna and an ancient orchard, past a seasonal pond and in and out of oak-bay woodland and chaparral all of which have their own mix of birds, plants and wildlife. At times you’ll get views of the city and bay below, as well as Stevens Creek Reservoir. In winter, this can be a good place to find sapsuckers, warblers and thrushes. Year round you can find Band-tailed Pigeon, California Thrasher, Wrentit, Oak Titmouse, Chestnut-backed Chickadee and both Steller’s Jay and California Scrub-Jay, often side-by-side. Parking is free and there are nice restrooms, managed by the winery, partway down the trail. So grab your binoculars and let’s go for a winter stroll!

I discovered Picchetti not long after moving to the South Bay back in 1991, when it was still called “Monte Bello Open Space Preserve: Picchetti Ranch Area.” It’s been a perennial favorite ever since. The preserve has an active winery with a tasting room on the grounds of the old Picchetti brothers’ ranch, which was built in the 1880s by Italian immigrants.

Before setting out on the Zinfandel Trail, take a few minutes to bird the parking area. Wild Turkeys can often be seen foraging in the parking lot or along the edges. Acorn Woodpeckers call from the trees around the winery grounds. Along the south edge of the lot, just before the trailhead, there’s a small stream that crosses under the path. Blackberry brambles line the right-hand side of the path. On either side, check for Fox Sparrow and Song Sparrow.

Winery to the left, trailhead on the right. Both paths converge on the other side of the winery.

As you start down the Zinfandel Trail, you’ll pass a lawn, a barn and some picnic tables. Look for Black Phoebe. Scan the redwood and douglas-fir trees for perched hawks. The lawn may have a surprise: a family of Indian Peafowl roam this area. Once part of the Picchetti brothers’ menagerie, they have largely gone wild. The sight of a peacock standing on a picnic table and displaying its feathered finery can be a spectacular sight.

Peafowl roam the winery grounds and nearby forest

As you cross the small bridge (see pin on the interactive map) before the restrooms where a creek runs down past the ranch, pause and listen for Hermit Thrush making soft ‘chup chup’ sounds in the brush; you may find them on either side of the bridge. In late January, the creek was barely running, but when the rains come it will spring to life. Tiny green Ruby-crowned Kinglets may be chattering in the trees here. By the restrooms, scan the mature oaks for Yellow-rumped Warblers and perhaps a Townsend’s Warbler. This is also a good spot to look for Red-breasted Sapsucker.

Past the restrooms and winery, you’ll be climbing a hill into the old orchard. It’s not steep, but the trail is mostly clay and gravel and if it’s been raining there can be slippery spots, so watch your step. Look for both White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows along the sides of the trail. When you crest the hill, you’ll have a view of the Bay Area below and lots of sky all around. Scan for soaring hawks and listen for the distant “bouncing ping pong ball” call of the Wrentit. Listen also for the song of the California Thrasher, an excellent mimic (related to the Northern Mockingbird) who may sing from the top of one of the old fruit trees—their long downcurved bill makes them easy to identify even from a distance.

At this spot you’ll find a fork in the road (see pin on the interactive map) and you can choose to go either way. Both ways will eventually lead to the ephemeral pond. Pick the trail that suits your taste or that seems more “birdy” in the moment. I often head straight down the Zinfandel Trail to see if the pond has water, especially if there’s been rain since the last time I visited.

Sometimes the Wild Turkeys will block the trail

Take Orchard Loop to the left or continue straight to the pond on the Zinfandel Trail

If you take the higher route, turn right at the first intersection onto the Vista Trail and you’ll find yourself in a thick grove of oaks where you can look for Townsend’s Warbler, White-breasted Nuthatch, Northern Flicker, Downy, Hairy and Nuttall’s Woodpeckers. There is a spot here where you can also look down on the orchard from above (see the scope pin on the interactive map); this is a good place to check the skies for Red-tailed Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, White-tailed Kite and Band-tailed Pigeon, or scan for Wild Turkeys down in the orchard.

No matter which way you hike, eventually you’ll end up at the ephemeral pond that is the heart of this location (see pin near the center right on the interactive map). Much of the year, this spot is just a grassy depression, but after the heavy winter rains the pond begins to fill, attracting wildlife to this oasis. If there’s water, check for ducks. Mallards will usually come, but sometimes there can be a Ring-necked Duck or Common Merganser. Along the edge of the pond area are some old downed trees; these logs are the closest you’ll find to benches on this hike, so you may want to take a break, sitting and enjoying this peaceful spot. Listen to the bird calls around the edges of the pond. You may catch a flock of Cedar Waxwings flying overhead or spot a White-throated Swift high above you.

Picchetti Ranch Pond, empty (January 2021)

At the time of this writing in January 2021, Picchetti Ranch Pond sits empty, but winter rains are in the forecast so by the time you read this it may have begun to fill. Once it has water, California Newts migrate from the hills to breed in the pond. If it’s raining when you are there, you may have to watch your step as these amphibians slowly waddle across the trail. Please tread carefully.

Notice the variety of trees here: both deciduous valley oak and live oak trees rim the pond, hosting Acorn Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Black Phoebe and others. The shrubby areas around the pond may have Hermit Thrush, Spotted Towhee and perhaps even a Varied Thrush. You may spot a Merriam’s Chipmunk darting through the undergrowth while you’re hunting for thrushes. There are also Dusky-footed Wood Rats here; you won’t see them as they’re nocturnal, but look for their towers of sticks, sometimes four feet high, which are more easily seen in the winter when there are fewer leaves hiding them in the undergrowth. The southeast corner of the pond has a large mature eucalyptus tree where you may find Townsend’s Warbler, Band-tailed Pigeon or Ruby-crowned Kinglet and you’ll often hear White-breasted Nuthatches calling in the canopy.

Several path choices at the southeast corner of the pond

There are several trails branching from different points around the pond. This is where you get to choose your own adventure! Listen for the birds and see which way they lead you. You may want to come back multiple times and take a different trail each time.

Here are three possibilities, highlighted by pins 1, 2 and 3 on the interactive map. It may be helpful to print out the pdf version of the Picchetti Ranch Open Space Preserve map provided by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District to use while on the trail, especially since there is very little cell service in the area.

You could stay near the pond area, exploring the Orchard Loop Trail and parts of the Bear Meadow and Vista Trails.

2. You could continue south on the Zinfandel Trail, over the second bridge (see pin on interactive map) and that will take you through oak-bay forest, up into chaparral habitat, then back down into oak-bay again until you eventually end up at Stevens Creek Park’s Cooley Picnic Area after about a mile and a half. Another time you might park at Cooley Picnic Area and hike up the trail toward Picchetti Ranch.

3. If you go southeast on the Bear Meadow Trail you’ll wind in and out of oak-bay woodland and chaparral with occasional views of Stevens Creek Reservoir below and at the bottom, about a mile from the pond, end at a small parking spot on Stevens Canyon Road. Some days you may want to start at this spot and hike up the hill, ending at the pond.

Ready for More?

Since each of the three options above branch from Picchetti Ranch Pond, you could do more than one in a single outing. I often like to take the Bear Meadow Trail halfway down toward Stevens Canyon Road, far enough to get some views of the reservoir, then go back up and detour to the Orchard Loop Trail, bypassing the pond on the way back toward the winery. Other times I’ll hike far down the Zinfandel Trail — there is a beautiful deeply-wooded canyon about 2/3 of a mile past the pond where there’s a bridge over a year-round creek. Below the bridge is a patch of Elk’s Clover and other plants not easily found elsewhere in the park.

Also note the options for starting from the trailhead at Cooley Picnic Area in Stevens Creek Park or the tiny parking area on Stevens Canyon Road (options 2 and 3 above). Check out the Stevens Creek County Park Self-guided Field Trip for additional information.

In the spring, Picchetti Ranch has a beautiful array of wildflowers, so make sure to hike through the different habitats, past a wide variety of trees (deciduous and live oak, groves of bay trees, madrone, manzanita, ceanothus, mountain mahogany, holly-leafed cherry, willow) to find wind poppies (along the Zinfandel Trail) or larkspur (halfway down Bear Meadow Trail) among other delightful flowers.

After the rains cease in the spring, the pond will slowly shrink as the months go by. It can be fascinating to come at different times of year and see how it has changed with each visit.

Next to the parking area on the western slope is an old persimmon tree whose fruit comes ripe in the early winter. That tree attracts a huge array of birds who feast on the persimmons, such as Townsend’s Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush and Northern Flicker. This December a rare Red-naped Sapsucker was among the throng. By the end of December the fruit was gone and the birds had dispersed to other locations around the park, but check again each November or December and see what birds this “magic tree” might attract.

Although you may notice unlabeled paths branching off from the main trails in places, please do not hike there, as they are not maintained for public use — keep to the trails labeled on the Picchetti Ranch Open Space Preserve Map.

Interactive Map

Directions: From I-280 in Cupertino take Foothill Blvd south 3.3 miles (becomes Stevens Canyon Rd). Turn right on Montebello Rd, go about a mile, and then turn left after the winery entrance into the preserve parking lot Latitude/Longitude: 37.294655, -122.091367.

Parking: Gravel lot next to the winery

Fees: None

Public Transportation: None nearby

Trail Hours: Sunrise to sunset

Facilities: Two restrooms (one of which is accessible), drinking fountain by the restrooms. picnic tables and garbage receptacles at winery, little to no cell service.

Heads-up! The area has limited to no cell phone service. To print or download this guide before you go, select the text you want (don’t include the banner photo), then print to PDF, or use a free service such as printfriendly.com, which lets you shrink or remove photos.

Trip Mileage: 0.3 miles to the pond, then as much or as little as you’d like, depending on which route you choose.

Trail Conditions: Most of the paths are wide dirt-packed trail. The Zinfandel Trail to the pond is 6-feet wide.

Accessibility: The winery area is wheelchair and stroller accessible, but hilly with gravel (no paved trails) that may make it difficult. The Zinfandel Trail has no benches and some parts of the trail are moderately steep.

Bikes: Not allowed

Dogs: Not allowed

More information:

Midpeninsula Regional Open Space—Picchetti Ranch Preserve
Picchetti Ranch Open Space Preserve map
All About Birds: California Thrasher and Wrentit
eBird hotspot: Picchetti Winery, Picchetti Ranch OSP

More Resources

For more trips like this one, visit Self-Guided Field Trips.
Visit the SCVAS Birding Resources page for more information on where to bird, our birding community, bird identification resources and more.
Read “What to Look for Now” by SCVAS Executive Director Matthew Dodder.

Banner Photo Credit: Wild Turkey by Barry Langdon-Lassagne

All Other Photos: All photos by Barry Langdon-Lassagne, taken at Picchetti Ranch Open Space Preserve.

Last Updated: 05/19/2022

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