Here’s a refreshing idea- rather than spend this “Black Friday” fighting the crowds at the mall or surfing the web for deals, why not get outdoors and enjoy one of Palo Alto’s many great parks? Started by REI, the #optoutside movement is encouraging stores to stay closed and people to spend time outdoors on November 27th. This is a great chance to start a new Thanksgiving tradition and take some time in nature too.
#Optoutside…and weigh in on the future of Palo Alto’s parks
We are lucky in Palo Alto to have many wonderful parks and open spaces where you can do everything from swim, play frisbee, take a picnic, play with your dog, climb a Magical Bridge or hike.
And if you are grateful for Palo Alto’s parks, take the Parks challenge, where every participant gets $25 of virtual funding to ‘spend’ on the City’s parks, trails, open space. Weigh in to tell the City where we should invest resources to protect, preserve and expand our parks for the future!
6 of our favorite places to #optoutside Palo Alto
Pearson-Arastradero Open Space
Arastradero-Pearson Open Space Preserve has hiking and mountain biking trails- plus great views! Photo by Redwood Hikes.
Why it’s cool: Pearson-Arastradero Preserve is a beautiful mixture of rolling savanna grassland and broadleaf evergreen forest with over 10 miles of hiking trails. Wildlife abounds on the preserve and it is not uncommon to see deer, bobcats, coyotes, and many varieties of birds.
History: Arastradero Preserve was renamed Enid Pearson-Arastradero Preserve in 2004 to honor former city council member Enid Pearson, who was instrumental in the passage of a measure in 1965 that prohibits Palo Alto from selling any park land without voters’ approval. The land where Arastradero Preserve now sits was slated to be developed for condos in the 1970s until it was purchased by the City of Palo Alto- and thank goodness for that forward-thinking decision!
Fun fact: Arastradero Lake is a twenty minute hike from the parking lot and is open all year to fishing.
Location: 1530 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto. See map.
Foothills Park
Why it’s cool: Bounded by Portola Valley, Los Altos Hills, Pearson-Arastradero Preserve and Los Trancos Open Space Preserve, the 1,400-acre Foothills Park is a nature lover’s paradise. Miles of trails provide access through rugged chaparral, woodlands, fields, streams, and a lake, and provide spectacular views of the Bay Area.
Foothills Park offers miles of hiking trails and open space. Photo by Friends of Foothills Park.
History: The land for Foothills Park was sold to the City of Palo Alto by Dr. Russel Lee, founder of the Palo Alto Medical Clinic, and his wife Dorothy in 1958, on the condition that it be preserved as open space. The Interpretive Center in the park is housed in a building originally built by the Lees as a horse stable.
Fun fact: You have to be a Palo Alto resident (or a guest) to use Foothills Park. Proof of residency is required to enter the park. Also, you can rent canoes in the lake (pond?) during the summer, which is a lovely way to spend a warm afternoon.
Location: 3300 Page Mill Road, Los Altos. See map.
Baylands Preserve
The Baylands offers unparalleled views and a chance to stroll and unwind. Photo by Trailstompers.
Why it’s cool: The Baylands offers 1,940 acres of natural and manmade facilities from marshlands and wetlands, including beautiful walking trails, an airport, athletic fields, a duck pond and a golf course. Located within 10 minutes of downtown Palo Alto, a trip to the Baylands feels miles away from the business of Silicon Valley.
History: Palo Alto purchased 40 acres of marshland in 1921 for a local recreation center, including a salt water swimming pool and golf course. In 1968, the Baylands became a park due advocacy by local citizens. Since then, the Nature Interpretative Center, the Mundy Marsh, the Renzel Wetlands, and Byxbee Park Hills have been added to the Preserve.
Fun Fact: The park’s official name is John Fletcher Byxbee Recreation Area, named after a member of Palo Alto High’s first graduating class and civil engineer whose vision and his guidance led to the concept and the purchase of bay land for recreational use.
Location: 2775 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto. See map.
Mitchell Park
Photo of Mitchell Park by the City of Palo Alto.
Why it’s cool: Mitchell Park is a fabulous local park with over 20 acres of open space that includes a quarter-mile jogging/walking path, picnic areas, tennis, paddle tennis and handball courts, horseshoe pits, multipurpose bowl, a water play area, a dog run and a new area called the Magical Bridge, the first playground in the country designed and built for visitors of ALL abilities. Oh and don’t forget the new Mitchell Park Library and Community Center in case you want to wander inside for a while too!
The Magical Bridge Playground is fun and accessible for ALL children. Photo by Verde Design.
History: Mitchell Park received national and international acclaim when it opened in 1957 because it was a new kind of park, with a variety of recreational activities geared to people of all ages. Mitchell Park is named for J. Pearce Mitchell, a Palo Alto City Councilman for 31 years and a two-term mayor.
Fun fact: In 1969, as part of Palo Alto’s 75th anniversary, El Palo Nuevo, a Sequoia Sempervirens, was planted in Mitchell Park as a companion tree to Palo Alto’s oldest tree, the El Palo Alto.
Location: 600 East Meadow Drive, Palo Alto. See map.
Rinconada Park
Why it’s cool: This almost 20-acre multipurpose park offers a variety of recreational activities that are hidden among live oaks and majestic redwoods, including a recreational swimming pool, Lucie Stern Community Center and the Junior Museum and Zoo. The Palo Alto Children’s Library is right next door too.
Rinconada Park has a lovely grass area for picnics and play. Photo by Juliana Lee.
History: Established in 1922, Rinconada is Palo Alto’s second oldest park (after El Camino). The name comes from Rancho Rinconada del Arroyo de San Francisquito, the Spanish land grant that originally included Palo Alto.
In the 1930s, Lucie Stern (widow of Louis Stern who was a nephew of Levi Stauss) and her daughter Ruth gifted the city with money to build what would be the Lucie Stern Community Center, children’s theater and swimming pool.
Fun fact: The Magic Forest, a magnificent stand of redwoods, fronts Rinconada Park on Hopkins Street. It was dedicated in 1971 in memory of Edith Ellery Patton (1877-1970), a teacher at Walter Hays School, who liked read to her students in the shade of the tall trees.
Location: 777 Embarcadero Road. See map.
Bol Park
Why it’s cool: This almost 14 acre park in the Barron Park neighborhood includes an undeveloped meadow for open play, a bicycle/jogging/walking path, and children’s playground.
History: This former “donkey pasture” became a park when Cornelis Bol’s heirs sold the land to Barron Park residents.
Bol Park’s open meadow and playground are a great place to get outside. It’s easy to ride your bike there too! Photo by Juliana Lee.
Fun fact: Adjacent to Bol Park in a private corral are Perry and Niner, two donkeys who visit the park on Sundays and special occasions. A plush version of Perry recently toured Palo Alto for a few months as a goodwill ambassador for the City.
Location: 3590 Laguna Avenue, Palo Alto. See map.
Perry and Niner, the beloved donkeys of Bol Park. Photo by Bol Park Neighborhood Association.
Text about parks adapted from the City of Palo Alto Parks and Open Space page.
