Former Military Base on Mount Umunhum to Open as Public Park

For the first time in 37 years, the summit of Mount Umunhum is open to visitors. The new public park—formerly the site of a Cold War era radar tower—offers stunning views of Santa Clara Valley and the San Francisco and Monterey bays.

The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District bought the 3,486-foot peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains for $261,566 and spent $25 million over the past several years preparing the site for public access.

Though the five-story radar tower is a distinguishing landmark at the new park, the open space district originally planned to demolish it. Ohlone tribes consider Mount Umunhum sacred, the site of creation in indigenous lore.

But military veterans and preservationists convinced Santa Clara County to keep “The Cube.” To honor the summit’s Native American heritage, the district then built a ceremonial ring.

The summit, which links to the 550-mile Bay Area Ridge Trail, will open to the public at dawn Monday. The mountaintop park includes a 53-car parking lot, doesn’t allow dogs and will open from sunrise to sunset.

For more information, visit www.openspace.org.

This article has been updated. 

15 Comments

  1. > Ohlone tribes consider Mount Umunhum sacred, the site of creation in indigenous lore.

    PROVE IT!

    This sounds like claptrap from the term paper of some mediocre social studies student at some mediocre community college.

    No one EVER checks the “narratives” that progressives constantly fling into the public information stream. Sometimes, they just make things up.

    Here’s some self-loathing white European activists spinning the Ohlone myth.

    https://unsettlingamerica.wordpress.com/tag/ohlone/

    I think the self-loathing white European activists left out the parts about Ohlone tribal warfare, Ohlone human sacrifice, and Ohlone cannibalism.

    • Who needs to prove anything to you? Take your time to research the answer to your question, and enjoy the learning process and the information that you gain.

  2. Good. I went up there and got a trespassing ticket when they were considering tearing down the cube. Was worth it. Can’t wait to visit it legally.

  3. It’s irritating they didn’t do this until after I moved out of California, but it will definitely be on my list of places to visit, next time I wander out that way.

  4. As a conservative I’m delighted that this land has been permanently conserved. No affordable housing. No tiny homes. No tax generating retail to support our insatiable local government.
    I LOVE Mt. Umunhum and I’m happy that the decision was made to preserve this acreage, the cube, AND to commemorate the Ohlone heritage.
    Even though it’s been quite a few years since I last snuck up there, it’s been good to know that it’s safe from development- prime mountain lion country. I wouldn’t have minded if the clean up efforts had dragged on indefinitely. The fewer people the better. But hopefully at least a few of the visitors that Mt. Umunhum does attract will recognize the importance of preserving our open spaces and that our ability to do that becomes more restricted the more people there are in our country.

  5. I read these comments hoping to gain some insight into what the experience might be like. What I got instead was a collection of curmudgeonly and racist rants, and snarky comments from “Almaden Air Force Station.” Gentlemen, show some civility to rest of us who are just looking for information. I would like to visit the site soon and I like to think the experience will make up for what I’ve read here.

    • Oh yeah I agree with you, some people just can not control themselves to the subject, it’s the fault of their culture

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