Swathed in seclusion and quietude, Fremont State Park remains
one of San Benito County’s forgotten recreational gems.
Swathed in seclusion and quietude, Fremont State Park remains one of San Benito County’s forgotten recreational gems.
The modest 170 acres, which lie at the top of an 11-mile winding road west of San Juan Bautista, have been available to local residents for more than 70 years, said State Park Ranger Stuart Organo.
“It’s kind of an out of the way park; we don’t get a whole lot of visitation,” he said. “But it’s one of the nicer parks in San Benito County.”
The park is also the home to the county’s lone observatory, which was built by a group of volunteers in 1986.
It houses a 30-inch telescope, the largest in the county, said David Baumgartner, amateur astronomer and a board member of the Fremont Peak Observatory Association.
“It’s pretty neat, and everyone has different reactions,” he said. “Some people get really excited and some people say they can’t see a thing.”
The observatory was built atop the 3,000-foot elevation park because the coastal fog covers the local city lights in the evenings, Organo said.
“It cuts down on a lot of the pollution in the area, and it gives you a clear view of the sky,” he said.
The park has observatory events every Saturday night from April to October, in which volunteers give a 30 to 45-minute presentation on a chosen astronomical topic, Organo said.
Saturday nights which have full moons are an exception, though.
“There’s too much light in the sky to see anything,” Organo said.
Attendance for the events usually range from 20 to 100 people, depending on the event.
The park saw excessive visitation last August when Mars was at its closet point to Earth in hundreds of years, Baumgartner said.
“We had lines of people waiting,” he said. “The cars were even waiting in line just to get into the park.”
Aside from unique and rare astronomical events, foot traffic at the park remains light except for on summer days when locals brave the corkscrew road to picnic amongst scenic views and scurrying wildlife, or take advantage of the small campground available for overnight visits.
The more adventurous types can also partake in moderate to strenuous hiking along the five miles of trails encircling the peak, Organo said.
“A lot of the visitors we have, even though they live (locally), haven’t been up here in 15 or 20 years,” Organo said. “It definitely gets (forgotten)… because there’s not a lot of signage on the roads and we don’t advertise there’s a park here.”
Day visits to the park currently cost $3 and will increase to $5 in July. Camping fees are $15. For more information, contact the Fremont State Park directly at (831) 623-4255 or the San Juan Bautista State Historic Park at (831) 623-4881.
