Foothills Open Space Preserve

Hidden Villa is a United States nonprofit educational organization teaching programs on environmental and multicultural awareness. In 1924, Frank and Josephine Duveneck founded this working organic farm and wilderness area on land comprising the upper Adobe Creek watershed on the foothills of Black Mountain in Los Altos Hills, California, part of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Hidden Villa is important historically as the site of the West's first American youth hostel and the nation's first multicultural children's summer camp.

Foothills Park is a 1,400-acre (570 ha) park and nature preserve in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California, United States, within the city of Palo Alto. From 1969 until 2020, only residents or city employees of Palo Alto and their guests had lawful access to it, a restriction that has sparked "decades-long" controversy and a 2020 ACLU lawsuit. The park was opened to the general public on December 17, 2020.

Arastradero Creek is a mainly seasonal 2.4-mile-long (3.9 km) generally north by northeastward-flowing stream originating in the Palo Alto foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is almost wholly protected by the Pearson–Arastradero Preserve, before joining Matadero Creek where its waters descend to San Francisco Bay.

Los Trancos Open Space Preserve is a 274-acre (1.11 km2) open space preserve, located in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, California, near Los Altos Hills, California. The preserve contains about 5 miles (8 km) of hiking trails, of which 2.1 miles (3.4 km) are open to equestrians, and none are open to bicycles. The area was once a part of a 13,300 acre (53.8 km2) rancho. The preserve's acreage was purchased by state senator Louis Oneal in the early 1900s, who raised horses there. It was sold to a developer in the 1950s. Power and water lines were run to the property in the 1960s, but development was abandoned when the city of Palo Alto discovered the high cost of providing city services to the area. The preserve was acquired by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District in 1976. While the preserve is relatively small compared to other preserves and parks in the area, it has one notable feature: about one mile (1.5 km) of the San Andreas Fault runs underneath it. Several series of markers throughout the preserve indicate where the ground has broken during various earthquakes. Additionally, a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) trail follows the main break caused by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. This trail includes several interpretive stations that point out various quake-caused features and phenomenon. Guided "quake walks" are held about once a month. Just northwest of Page Mill Road, the preserve protects the headwaters of Los Trancos Creek, a tributary of San Francisquito Creek.

Rancho La Purísima Concepción was a 4,439-acre (17.96 km2) Mexican land grant in present day Santa Clara County, California given in 1840 by Governor Juan Alvarado to José Gorgonio and his son José Ramon, Ohlone Indians. The granted extended from Matadero Creek (Rancho Corte de Madera) to Adobe Creek and encompassed present day Los Altos Hills.

Arastradero Preserve, officially known as Enid W. Pearson–Arastradero Preserve, is a 622 acres (252 hectares) nature preserve that protects most of the Arastradero Creek watershed, including its ephemeral Mayfly Creek tributary. It also includes the upper reach of the Felt Creek tributary to Stanford's Felt Reservoir. The preserve is owned and operated by the City of Palo Alto, California. The main parking lot hosts an interpretive center and is located at 1530 Arastradero Road (37°23'13" N, 122°10'29" W).

Palo Alto University (PAU) is a private university in Palo Alto, California that focuses on psychology and counseling. It was founded in 1975 as the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology and became Palo Alto University in 2009. Palo Alto University offers two undergraduate degree programs: a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Social Action and a Bachelor of Science in Business Psychology; four graduate programs: a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, a Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology as part of a consortium with Stanford University; an M.A. in Counseling and an M.S. in Psychology. PAU subscribes to the practitioner-scientist training model, which emphasizes clinical practice along with scientific training.PAU has an interconnected relationship with Stanford University and the Stanford University School of Medicine. PAU maintains its doctoral program in conjunction with Stanford University, often employs its students in Stanford research laboratories, and houses faculty members who teach at both institutions. The chair of the Stanford Department of Psychiatry holds a membership on the PAU board of trustees.

Los Altos Hills (US: ; Los Altos, Spanish for "The Heights") is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 8,489 at the 2020 census. The town is known for its affluence and expensive residential real estate.

Casa de Tableta, now known as the Alpine Inn, and formerly known as Rossotti's Saloon and Zott's, was built c.1851 in Portola Valley, California at the junction of Arastradero Road. It was listed as a California Historical Landmark in 1969 and on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. As of 2020, it's the second oldest saloon in operation in the state of California.Some additional historical names of the building include Félix Buelna's Casa de Tableta; Fernando's Store; Philpott's; Stanton's Saloon; Chapete's Place; The Wunder; and Schenkel's Picnic Park.

Foothill Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by Peninsula Astronomical Society (PAS) and Foothill College. It is located on the college's campus in Los Altos Hills, California (US). The observatory is used by students enrolled in the introductory astronomy lab on campus, which is part of the college's thriving astronomy for non-scientists program, serving over 800 students per year. A 16-inch (410 mm) Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope was donated to the observatory and went into operation in 2007. The PAS opens the observatory for public viewing every clear Friday night from 9 p.m. to about 11 p.m., and for solar viewing every clear Saturday morning from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Rancho Cañada del Corte de Madera was a 3,566-acre (14.43 km2) Mexican land grant in present day Santa Clara County, California given in 1833 by Governor José Figueroa to José Domingo Peralta and Máximo Martínez. The name translates as "the valley where lumber is cut". The grant was located west of today's I-280, and south of San Francisquito Creek near Searsville Lake, and covered most of the Portola Valley.

Rancho el Corte de Madera was a 13,316-acre (53.89 km2) Mexican land grant in present day Santa Clara County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Máximo Martínez. The name translates as "the place where lumber is cut". The roughly triangular shaped grant was west of today's I-280, and bounded on the north by Alambique Creek and San Francisquito Creek, on the south by Los Trancos Creek and Matadero Creek, and on the west by what is now Skyline Boulevard. The grant surrounded Rancho Cañada del Corte de Madera which extended along the Portola Valley. The land grant included parts of present day Woodside, Ladera and Stanford University.