Bear Creek Stables is a historic equestrian facility located within Bear Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve in Los Gatos, California. The stables sit in the Santa Cruz Mountains on public open space land managed by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.
For decades, Bear Creek Stables has been associated with horseback riding, horse boarding, riding lessons, trail access, youth programs, and equestrian life in the Los Gatos mountains. The site is also part of a larger preserve landscape that supports redwood forest, oak woodland, creeks, native wildlife, public recreation, and environmental stewardship.
This website was created as an independent public archive about Bear Creek Stables in Los Gatos.
The purpose of the archive is to collect, preserve, and organize records related to the history, management, oversight, and future of Bear Creek Stables. Many of these records are scattered across public meeting packets, agency reports, public records responses, permit files, consultant documents, photographs, videos, correspondence, and news coverage. Bringing them together in one place allows the public to review the source material directly.
Bear Creek Stables has become the subject of significant public concern and debate. Issues involving horse welfare, facility conditions, public spending, nonprofit management, environmental impacts, wildlife protection, permitting, governance, and public agency oversight have all shaped the future of the site.
This archive includes records and materials related to:
- Horse welfare and stable operations
- Public agency oversight of Bear Creek Stables
- Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District decisions
- Public records and transparency
- Facility repairs and deferred maintenance
- Planning, permitting, and regulatory questions
- Wildlife habitat and nesting bird issues
- Public spending and funding decisions
- Historical information about Bear Creek Stables
- Photographs, videos, reports, correspondence, and public meeting materials
Whenever possible, this site provides original source documents so readers can evaluate the evidence themselves. Analysis and commentary may be included, but the underlying records are central to the archive.
Bear Creek Stables is more than a local riding facility. It is a public land issue, an animal welfare issue, an environmental stewardship issue, and a government accountability issue. Decisions about the stables affect horses, riders, wildlife, taxpayers, preserve visitors, and the broader Los Gatos community.
This site is intended for anyone researching Bear Creek Stables, reviewing public records, following Midpen’s management of the facility, or trying to understand how a long-running equestrian site inside a public open space preserve reached its current condition.
The goal is simple: make the record accessible.