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Foothills Park

1965 establishments in CaliforniaPalo Alto, CaliforniaParks in Santa Clara County, CaliforniaProtected areas established in 1965Santa Cruz Mountains
Foothills Park 86 (cropped)
Foothills Park 86 (cropped)

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.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Foothills Park (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 37.354 ° E -122.185 °
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Address

Foothills Nature Preserve

Page Mill Road 3300
94022
California, United States
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Phone number

call+16503292423

Website
cityofpaloalto.org

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linkWikiData (Q49490176)
linkOpenStreetMap (6258591)

Foothills Park 86 (cropped)
Foothills Park 86 (cropped)
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Nearby Places

Los Trancos Open Space Preserve
Los Trancos Open Space Preserve

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.

Windy Hill Open Space Preserve
Windy Hill Open Space Preserve

Windy Hill Open Space Preserve is a regional park located in San Mateo County, California and operated by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD). It is readily identifiable from the flatlands of the South Bay, as it is the only "naked" part of the peninsula range (not forested). The Windy Hill Preserve comprises an important 1132 acre (4.6 km2) stretch of conservation land on the eastward side of the Peninsula Range (Santa Cruz Mountains), rising from the valley road near Portola Valley to the 1905 ft (581 m) summit from which it gets its name. Access to the summit is easy (0.5 mile moderate grade) from State Route 35, the ridge road along the Peninsula Range. Facilities focus on trails for hiking and mountain biking, with around 14 miles (22 km) of hiking trails. Paragliding and hang gliding are permitted with a special use permit, and are popular activities in the winter months when there are East winds. In clear weather there are magnificent views from the summit, and indeed the entire upper end of the park, across the campus of Stanford University to the San Francisco Bay and beyond to Mount Tamalpais and Mount Diablo. Downtown San Francisco is visible, as well as the Pacific Ocean. Most of Windy Hill is sheltered from the prevailing weather, which comes in off of the Pacific Ocean. A nice day further down can be very cold, windy, foggy or rainy at the summit. The area is rich in wildlife; among the species likely to be seen are California mule deer, coyote, California vole, white-tailed kite, American kestrel, band-tailed pigeon and California quail. There are signs warning about mountain lions, but bobcats are more common. Rattlesnakes and gopher snakes may also be found. Banana slugs and, in season, California newts are common. Spring Ridge Trail runs from the Portola Valley trailhead to Skyline Boulevard through the open, grassy part of the preserve. It, like most of the lower trails, is a fire road, open to cyclists as well as hikers and equestrians. Two trails further to the south (Hamms Gulch and the Lost Trail-Razorback Ridge-Eagle Trail combination), are single-tracks not open to cyclists. These trails run through forested country: oak, fir, buckeye, bay laurel, madrone and one or two redwoods. Because the far shore rises so steeply, Sausal Pond appears to be black or murky green, rather than sky-blue. This marshy pond is home to a few coots and the occasional mallard, to dragonflies and bullfrogs. Shoreline access is limited to not more than one or two hundred feet, much of that surrounded by bush and accessible only to the determined.