"For the first time the Cottle and Lester Historic Ranch will be open and accessible to the public." That line is on the Santa Clara County Parks calendar, next to an event set for Saturday, November 7, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Martial Cottle Park.
Martial Cottle Park sits off Snell Avenue in Blossom Valley. The ranch at its center has been visible from the park's trails for years, but the public couldn't walk through it. The dedication changes that, with one limit. The County's event page says visitors can "explore the accessible pathways, view the exterior of the historic buildings," and also says plainly that "historic structures will not be open to the public."
That gap between the grounds and the buildings explains what the County actually built. Much of the contracted work is infrastructure you won't see on Saturday, and it was designed to open the ranch in stages, and November 7 is the first one.
A Farm Kept Whole for More Than 150 Years
The ranch is still there because one family kept saying no to development. The County's history of the site traces it back to Edward Cottle, who came to Santa Clara County in 1854 and bought part of Rancho Santa Teresa in 1856. His son Martial's 350 acres stayed in the family, and his descendants kept farming them.
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1854 | Edward Cottle arrives in Santa Clara County |
| 1856 | He buys part of Rancho Santa Teresa |
| 1910s | Japanese American tenant farmers begin leasing ranch land; Filipino farmworkers also work the property |
| 2003 or 2004 | Walter Cottle Lester transfers the land to State and County Parks |
| 2014 | Walter Cottle Lester dies, farming by the family ends, and his roughly 31-acre life estate reverts to the County |
| 2024 to 2026 | Phase 1 restoration of the historic ranch is contracted and built |
The County credits Ethel Cottle Lester with deciding the ranch should be kept as a place to teach how the valley farmed. Her children, Edith and Walter, held to that plan and turned down developers. The County's history page says Walter transferred 287 acres in 2003, with a grant deed meant to educate the public about Santa Clara Valley's agricultural heritage. The 2011 park master plan dates the transfer to 2004 and splits it up: a 120.12-acre gift to the County, a 136.52-acre sale to the State, and a separate 30.9-acre life estate parcel.
That deed purpose is why the park still looks like a farm. Jacobs Farm farms 180 acres organically as a County Parks partner. Its crops include dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes, melons, cherries, stone fruit, squash, corn, pumpkins, blackberries and cut flowers. The ranch buildings are where the people who farmed those fields lived and worked.
Where $12.36 Million Went
On December 3, 2024, the Board of Supervisors awarded Azul Works, Inc. a $12.36 million construction contract for Phase 1 of the historic ranch. With a $1.236 million allowance for extra work, the total came to $13.596 million. The same action added $6.5 million to the budget: $5 million in State grant money and $1.5 million moved from the Parks Operating Fund.
The scope the Board approved is mostly groundwork:
- New utilities, plus stub-outs for future phases
- Repairs to the outer shells of the Cottle House and the building the County calls the Japanese House
- Waterproofing of the Cottle House basement, and minor repairs to other site structures
- New accessible routes from the Walter Cottle Lester Visitor Center through the ranch
- An outdoor classroom shade structure and interpretive signs
- Service bypass roads, a maintenance yard and stormwater bioretention
Most of that list keeps the buildings dry, gets water and power to the site, and lets people walk through it on paths. That matches what the dedication page promises: pathways, exteriors and activity stations. In its April 2026 report to the Board, County Parks described the project as preparing the ranch "for public access and future improvements."
Why the Opening Moved to November
The schedule slipped. The County's Visitor Center page still says the historic ranch area "will open to the public in summer 2026."
The April 2026 Parks Department report explains the delay. Construction started in mid-March 2025. The State grant work was done in December 2025, and the historic renovation was finished in January 2026. Completing the whole project still depended on a water connection in the Snell Avenue right-of-way, which San Jose Water Company designed and will build. The water company was waiting on an encroachment permit from Valley Water, and the report said that affected the overall completion schedule.
The County hasn't posted regular visiting hours for the ranch after the dedication. For now, Saturday is the scheduled day to walk the historic grounds with staff and activity stations on hand.
The New Trail Section Around the Ranch
The dedication also marks the finished Perimeter Trail extension. A 2025 County report described two unbuilt pieces of the Perimeter Trail. One was a half-mile, 12-foot-wide asphalt trail around the life estate and farm stand. The other was a half-mile, 12-foot-wide rocked trail around Field C, connecting to the Route 85 underpass. Construction on the extension began in May 2025 and was substantially complete at the end of January 2026. That closed the loop around the historic ranch and farm stand and added the Route 85 connection.
Unlike the ranch, the trail stays open after Saturday. County Parks says the park's paved trails add up to more than three miles, and leashed dogs on six-foot leashes and bicycles are welcome on them.
How to Spend Saturday
The event is spread across several parts of the park. Here is the County's lineup by location:
- Walter Cottle Lester Visitor Center. Information and activity booths from Santa Clara County Parks, State Parks, UCCE 4-H, UCCE Master Gardeners, UCCE Composting Education and Our City Forest. Local honey is for sale, and Travelin' Tom's Coffee and the Yakitori Harue food truck will be serving.
- Cottle and Lester Historic Ranch. Tour and activity stations, including cattle roping and cow milking.
- Composting Education parcel. An open house on composting.
- Our City Forest parcel. An Urban Forestry Education Center workday caring for the arboretum and demonstration gardens.
- Perimeter Trail. Pick up a scavenger hunt at one of the three information booths at the historic ranch. The answers are along the newest section of the trail.
Before you go, keep in mind:
- The historic ranch is a historical site, so bikes and dogs aren't allowed inside it. Service animals are the exception. Dogs and bikes are welcome on the Perimeter Trail.
- The main entrance is at 5283 Snell Avenue, San José, CA 95136.
- The park is open year-round from 8 a.m. to sunset.
- There is a $6 daily vehicle entrance fee, paid at a credit card machine when the kiosk isn't staffed.
- The County also has a volunteer sign-up for anyone who wants to help run the event.
Visitor Center hours depend on volunteer staffing, so call the park office at (408) 535-4060 before a weekday visit. Jacobs Farm's Martial Cottle page describes a farm stand with organic produce and u-pick, but it doesn't list fall days or hours. Check with the farm before planning around it.
What Comes After the Dedication
The 2011 master plan lists the next phase: habitat enhancement, a native plant nursery, a multi-use outdoor pavilion and an agricultural marketing area. That plan set a 2011 to 2019 timeline for its own park-wide Phase 1, which is separate from the Historic Ranch Site Plan Implementation Phase I contract the Board awarded in 2024. The plan's later elements have no published funding or schedule, so the plan describes what the County intends, not what's coming soon.
Two more park events this month are already on the County Parks calendar. A composting education workday runs Wednesday, November 18, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. A Martial Cottle Park Partner Open House follows on Saturday, November 21, from 9 a.m. to noon, with the Master Gardeners, the Composting Education Program and Our City Forest.
If the ranch reopens on a regular schedule, the new paths, utilities and waterproofed Cottle House basement from Phase 1 will be what makes it possible. Until then, the 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. window on November 7 is the only scheduled time to walk the ranch grounds.
Elsa has watched Blossom Valley change for years, and a farm kept intact since 1856 says as much about the neighborhood as any home sale. If you're curious how the area around Snell Avenue and Martial Cottle has changed, or you'd like to talk about your own place nearby in English or Spanish, Elsa Garza is glad to help. Start with an Instant Home Valuation.
