Chitactac Adams County Park - Santa Clara County, California

 Waxing Gibbous Moon

In keeping with my 2,022 in 2022 program, I am reaching out to visit as many parks as I can to satisfy two intentions: a) to learn something new and b) to get some more miles in. On my way home from Uvas Canyon the other day, I saw the sign for Chitactac Adams County Park. I had heard of it before, but never had I purposefully looked for it. The park sort of popped up in front of me, so I had to stop. It was my time to see it.

This park is part of an old Amah Mutsun village called Chitactac situated on Uvas Creek upstream of the Pajaro River on Watsonville Road northwest of Gilroy. There is a small visitor center styled very loosely after a roundhouse with a set of displays explaining the ancient and recent history of the land. The "Adams" part refers to a 19th century "landowner" who donated the property to the local school district.

Chitactac was populated for about 3,000 years pre-colonial times. Evidence of some of their activities is still present in the form of pictographs and grinding holes on sandstone outcrops next to the creek. The "nature trail" loops around the site with barriers to protect the pictographs. The outcrops are very mossy right now, so the pictographs are difficult-to-impossible to see. If you go, please respect the need to preserve them and do not climb over the barriers. 

This pictograph has been removed from its original location.
It is currently on display in the visitors center. 

The grinding holes are many and they are easy to see and enjoy.

It is also easy to imagine a busy village at this location with salmon swimming upstream to spawn and lots of game nearby. The eroded sandstone outcrops are beautiful and provide interesting cubby holes to explore. 

A ramada near the visitor center is a nice place for a picnic. It is also loosely styled after a native shelter. 

Several large boulders in the park have been defaced by vandals in recent times. I'm not sure the damage can be erased, but it would be a worthy project for a youth group. Today's anthropologists and others who study pictographs are not certain how to interpret their precise meanings. It is safe to say, however, that they are not pledges of puppy love or gang affiliation, like the crude letters and numbers carved into rocks by modern children. Leave no trace, people. We have  done enough harm.

Peace, Love, and Let It Be,

Jim