Walk San Jose beyond the freeway map
San Jose is the biggest city in Silicon Valley and mostly built for the car, but it hides good walking in its older districts and creek trails. FOG keeps the map dark until you walk it, which makes finding them a project.
Old pieces in a new city
Downtown is centred on the Plaza de Cesar Chavez, with San Pedro Square and its market a few blocks north. Japantown, north of downtown, is one of the few historic Japantowns left in the United States, with shops, temples and a Sunday market.
West of downtown, the Rose Garden neighbourhood has a large municipal rose garden and quiet streets of older houses. Willow Glen, to the south west, has a small walkable main street.
Creek trails for distance
The Guadalupe River Trail runs north from downtown through a long river park toward the bay. Los Gatos Creek Trail and Coyote Creek Trail add more miles. Walking a creek trail and then turning off into the neighbourhoods on either side clears the map in broad bands.
A good first day: downtown, San Pedro Square, Japantown, the Rose Garden and back by the Guadalupe River Trail. Alum Rock Park, in the eastern foothills, is for real hikes.
What to expect
The valley is flat and sunny, which makes walking easy most of the year. The city is huge and low density, so the percentage will climb slowly beyond the core.
That makes it a good place to aim for neighbourhoods rather than the whole city: finish Japantown, finish downtown, finish Willow Glen, and watch the separate bright patches join up.
What the app adds to a walk
The ledger tracks the area you have unfogged, the distance you have covered and your share of the whole Earth. Ranks climb with area, from Fogbound and Wanderer up through Scout, Pathfinder and Explorer to Atlas. The collection fills with the countries, regions and cities you have actually stood in, and nothing else can add to it.
Everything stays on the phone: no account, no cloud, no app analytics, no ads. If you already have years of Google Timeline or GPX history, FOG Unlimited can import it, a single purchase rather than a subscription, so San Jose walks you took before installing appear on the map the same day.
Questions people actually ask
Is San Jose walkable?
Downtown, Japantown and a few older neighbourhoods are. Most of the city is low density and car oriented.
Where can I walk long distances?
On the creek trails, especially the Guadalupe River Trail from downtown.
Is there a subscription?
No. Exploring is free and FOG Unlimited is a single purchase. There is never a subscription.
Start with a dark map.
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