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Canyon Creek, with headwaters at Lake Ranch reservoir near Sanborn-Skyline Park.

Our residents are frugal with their water use, and our water company continues to roll out high-tech meters to immediately detect residential water leaks so they can be repaired quickly.

In 1993, the Lake Canyon Community Services District was established as an independent special district. It was created after the Santa Clara County Health Department found widespread inadequacies with individual on-site septic systems, prompting the creation of a centralized community network for wastewater treatment.

Roads. When Highway 17 was completed in 1940, it replaced the winding, narrow stagecoach routes and bypassed the declining railway. It solidified the automobile as the primary way mountain residents commuted to the valley or coast.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, booming population growth in Silicon Valley triggered a severe water deficit, requiring the Santa Clara Valley Water District to capture runoff from Los Gatos Creek. The James J. Lenihan Dam and Lexington Reservoir reshaped the infrastructure of the Santa Cruz Mountains south of Los Gatos.

The construction of the 195-foot-high earthen dam began in the spring of 1952. The resulting Lexington Reservoir completely submerged the historic 19th-century logging and stagecoach towns of Alma and Lexington. Because the new reservoir body would fill the deep mountain basin, all existing low-lying infrastructure— including local mountain roads and State Route 17—were rerouted to higher ground.

Prior to the dam’s construction, Beardsley Road ran lower along the canyon basin floor, connecting Lake Canyon to old thoroughfares along Los Gatos Creek.

Engineering surveys showed that once the Lenihan Dam was completed and the reservoir reached its maximum capacity, the original alignment of Beardsley Road would be permanently underwater, cutting off access to the properties nestled in the western canyon arm.

To maintain access for residents on the west side of the canyon, the road was re-engineered. It was pushed significantly upward and northward along the steep hillside slopes.

The relocated Beardsley Road was carved into the ridge to hug the newly formed western arm of the reservoir and mapped out to function as a crucial connector high above the waterline, starting from Montevina Road in the north and weaving south toward Black Road. Today, Beardsley Road sits safely above the flooded ruins of the old ghost towns drowned by the 1952 project. Besides Beardsley, the other four roads in Lake Canyon are named after local foliage: Laurel, Oak, Madrone, and Manzanita.

The overpass at Bear Creek Road and Highway 17, officially named the Gillian Cichowski Memorial Overcrossing Bridge, was built in 1996, replacing the dangerous at-grade intersection with a safer grade-separated overcrossing.

Resilient Residents. Due to its steep, mountainous terrain and proximity to major fault lines, our community’s history has been shaped by regional earthquakes, landslides, and floods. Here are some of the significant geological and hydrological events that have impacted the Lake Canyon area.

Earthquakes. The 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake was the most disruptive seismic event to hit the region since the community’s founding. Centered just 13 miles “as the crow flies” from Lake Canyon, the violent shaking caused widespread structural damage, ruptured local propane lines, and triggered landslides throughout the surrounding canyons. Our community sits near the complex San Andreas Fault system. Regular low-to-moderate regional tremors frequently rattle the canyon, requiring extra precautions for our underground water-main infrastructure integrity.

Landslides. Land movement is a persistent threat. The combination of steep slopes and saturated soil during storms sometimes causes localized slope failures. Heavy mud and rock movement on uphill county lands may wash down into the canyon, impacting local bridges, roads, and drainage culverts during severe winter weather.

The historic California floods of 1955, 1982, 1997, and consecutive recent atmospheric rivers bring heavy rainfall to the mountains. Intense downpours can cause rapid rises in Lyndon Canyon Creek (also known as Beardsley Creek), which serves as a secondary water source for the Lake Canyon Mutual Water Company. These flash-flood conditions wash heavy debris down the mountain washes.

Traditions. Several families have lived in Lake Canyon for three generations, including the Cabral, Abbott, and Snetsinger families. Jack Cabral settled here in 1959 and served as president of our water company for 25 years. Jack built one of our bridges and our redwood water tank, and upgraded our water system.

His daughter Rebecca continues that tradition of volunteering today as our current president. Rebecca organizes many annual events, including an Oktoberfest potluck, Halloween boos cruise, friendsgiving dinner, and our holiday-lights competition and celebration.

We recently held volunteer creek cleanup weekends to prepare for the super El Niño forecast this winter. Our Firewise Committee has received and maintained official recognition of Lake Canyon as a Firewise USA® community by improving our wildfire resilience, increasing awareness of fire prevention, and educating the community. We hold an annual emergency-evacuation drill with the support of the Santa Clara County Fire Department.

We recently upgraded our website, created Centennial Commemorative Patches for our community members, installed a new welcome sign at our canyon entrance, and celebrated our 100-year anniversary at our annual meeting in October.

We certainly enjoy, and are thankful for, the beauty, peace, and neighborly feel of our “Hidden Gem in the Mountains.”