As far as I know, there are only four ways into San Jose from Morgan Hill:

A. Highway 101
B. McKean Road
C. Hale Avenue/Santa Teresa Boulevard
D. Monterey Road

Highway 101 is the best known and most used route. Barring accidents, it's also the fastest route, making it the primary path of commuters, who use all four northbound lanes and ignore the 65 mile-per-hour speed limit to get into America's newest million-person city (1,006,892 people to be exact) as quickly as possible¹.

McKean Road is probably the least known, least accessible, and least traveled of the four routes. It's also the windiest and slowest of the bunch. It enters San Jose at its southern tip -- right by Almaden Quicksilver Park. It's a two-lane road with a peak speed limit of 40 mph (I believe). It's a popular road for motorcyclists on the weekend.

I like to think of Hale Avenue/Santa Teresa Boulevard (it switches names at Bailey Avenue) as the back door into San Jose². Most folks who use it are traveling only as far as south San Jose. Like McKean, it has two lanes and peaks at 40 mph.

While those three roads are fine ways to reach San Jose, my favorite way is Monterey Road³. It's faster and more direct than McKean or Santa Teresa, but not as packed as Highway 101. It's a four-lane divided expressway that has a speed limit of 55 mph (although most folks zip along at 65 mph).

To me, it's the side entrance into San Jose that just happens to be on the same side as the main entrance (101). I'd say 90% of the cars that take it in the morning turn off at Bernal Road (to reach Highway 85) or Blossom Hill Road. I'm part of the 10% that takes it all the way into downtown.

I like Monterey Road because hardly anyone uses it, even during commute hour. It's entirely possible to cruise along at a decent clip with nobody ahead of you or behind you for a quarter-mile, which may not be much in other parts of the country, but is nearly impossible in a place as bustling as the Bay Area.

My favorite stretch of Monterey Road is the 5.5 miles between Old Monterey Road (just before the railroad overpass) and Bailey Avenue.

Along this scenic stretch, one passes a number of landmarks and points of interest that give it a bit of character. For fun, here is a list of the ones I can remember:

• a water tower
• two rundown motels (one offering free HBO)
• a liquor store
• a community garage
• two RV resorts
• an RV repair yard
• an orchard
• a grass farm
• three construction yards
• a high school
• a charter school
• six stoplights
• a fruit stand selling apricots and cherries
• a Filipino restaurant (Pinoy Lechon BBQ & Grill)
• an abandoned sushi restaurant
• a model aircraft skypark
• a massive billboard promoting a Catholic radio station
• the Coyote Creek Golf Club
• a vintage sign for an abandoned roadside eatery (15 Mile Stop)
• a small outpost of five ranch-style homes (behind a concrete wall)

In the morning, Monterey Road eases me into the day. Right now, it's the sunrise and the glow on the rolling hills I enjoy. In the fall and winter, I'm fond of the fog.

In the evening, this corridor of trees, fields, farms, and hills offers a relaxing transition from work to home. For a short while, I'm able to imagine I'm somewhere else -- on a road trip or on the open road. The effect is particularly potent when the sun is setting or there's a train racing along the railroad track that parallels the road.

On the rare days when I have to drive to work, Monterey Road is one of those unique roads that makes commuting by car enjoyable, which is why it's my favorite way to San Jose.

¹ It should be noted that these same people drive even faster on all four southbound lanes to escape the city at night.
² I suppose that makes McKean the "secret" entrance into town.
³ It's a road of many names. Besides Monterey Road, it's also referred to as Monterey Highway, Monterey Street, Route 82, and El Camino Real.