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Amazing Bonfante Gardens opens near Gilroy

South of San Jose along U.S. 101, office parks and billboards eventually give way to green fields. The Santa Clara Valley's agricultural roots-planted long before the valley earned its new nickname of Silicon--are in evidence at Gilroy's garlic farms.

The newest attraction in this still sleepy country-Bonfante Gardens Theme Park, west of Gilroy on Hecker Pass Highway-manages to blend the area's farm roots with Silicon Valley innovation: The stars of the show here are high-tech trees.

More than 20 years in the making, the $100-million park is the dream of Michael Bonfante, a Gilroy native and a former owner of Nob Hill Foods. He financed the park by selling his interest in the family's grocery store chain.

Bonfante Gardens' 40 rides and attractions emphasize local elements: You can take a dizzying whirl in spinning garlic cloves, ride a roller coaster modeled on cars from San Jose's New Almaden Quicksilver Mine, or cruise past signs for local businesses in an antique car ride.

"A respite from Silicon Valley pressures"

But the real draw of the 75-acre park is the plant life, including the 25 "circus trees." Sculpted into fantastic shapes in the mid-2Oth century by arborist Axel Erlandson, the trees drew national attention in the 1940s and '50s, when visitors flocked to the Tree Circus in Scotts Valley.

The trees fell into decline after Erlandson's death in 1964. Michael Bonfante helped rescue and relocate them, in the process acquiring what he calls his "lifelong passion for trees" and the idea for his theme park.

At Bonfante Gardens, visitors can walk under a bowlegged sycamore trunk 10 feet high or examine a giant living basket woven of six trunks. The sculpted sycamores, ash, and Spanish cork trees each took more than four decades to form and grow.

The kind of patience required to develop them is a world apart from the everything-now pace of contemporary Silicon Valley-a contrast not lost on Michael Bonfante. The park, he says, "will be a respite from Silicon Valley pressures."

Bonfante's main goal is to educate children about the value of trees. More than 65,000 plants were brought into the park, including tropicals to fill the 60-foot-tall arboretum. But market researchers said kids and their parents wouldn't come out just for plants, so Bonfante added the rides.

"It may be a risky venture," Bonfante says. "But I have a love for trees. Anything to do with love is risky."

Fine views and fine wines along Hecker Pass

More of the region's natural strengths can be found farther west on Hecker Pass Highway. Along the road are a handful of small wineries with tasting rooms offering Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and some older varieties such as Carignane and Barbera.

The county park at the top of 1,897-foot Mt. Madonna has forested hiking trails and late-season wildflowers. The trees here don't do any tricks, but the ancient redwoods are impressive nonetheless. And the views of Monterey Bay and Santa Clara Valley are stunning. Beyond the pass, the road takes a breathtaking route down to Watsonville.

Bonfante Gardens may be an unusual concept, but certainly Santa Clara Valley, where agricultural fields bump up against high-tech office parks, is the right location to bridge botany and amusement park artifice. And a trip here can start with the trees, then take in a whole forest.

Travel planner

For general information on the area, contact the Gilroy Visitors Bureau (7780 Monterey St., Gilroy; 408/ 842-6436 or www.gilroyvisitor.org).

Area code is 408.

Bonfante Gardens Theme Park.

The 75-acre park opens June 15. It has 40 rides and attractions, including two steam trains, a monorail, restaurants, and an arboretum; more rides and gardens are planned. 10-10 daily in summer; off-season hours vary; $28.95, $25.95 ages 65 and over, $19.95 ages 3-12, 3050 Hecker Pass Hwy, Gilroy; 840-7100 or www.bonfantegardens.com.

Fortino Winery. Thirty-year-old family winery makes 16 wines, including Merlot and Carignane. 10-5 Mon-Sat (until 5:30 Sat), 12-5 Sun. 4525 Hecker Pass Hwy., Gilroy; 842-3305.

Hecker Pass Winery.

Petite Syrah, Carignane, and Chardonnay are produced at this winery owned by the Fortino family. 10-5 daily. 4605 Hecker Pass Hwy., Gilroy; 842-8755.

Mt. Madonna County Park.

This 3,219-acre park has stunning views of Monterey Bay and Santa Clara Valley along 20 miles of trails. Visitors can see the ruins of cattle baron Henry Miller's getaway homes, Campsites are available. 8-sunset daily; $4 day use. Turn off State 152 near crest of road onto Pole Line Rd.; 358-3741 or www.parkhere.org.

Solis Winery.

Chardonnay, Merlot, and Sangiovese are offered in a tasting room with a view of the mountains. 11-5 Wed-Sun. 3920 Hecker Pass Hwy., Gllroy; 847-6306 or www.soliswinery.com.

Thomas Kruse Winery.

This small winery has tastings of its Merlots, Chardonnays, and Zinfandels. 12-5 daily 4390 Hecker Pass Hwy, Gllroy; 842-7016 or www.thomaskrusewinery.com.