Mile zero is just north of the Alma Bridge Road trailhead at the dam. Between the dam and downtown, the unpaved trail on the west side of the creek follows the old South Pacific Coast Railroad bed, while the Jones and Flume trails run on the east side toward Novitiate Park and St. Joseph’s Hill.
From Forbes Mill north the trail is paved. It runs through Oak Meadow and Vasona parks, past the Netflix campus and Los Gatos Creek County Park, and on through Campbell to San Jose’s Willow Glen.