Open Space Preserves

The Baylands Preserve has some of the last remaining salt marsh and mud flat habitats on the west coast. It offers excellent birding year-round.

Esther Clark Park is a good place for quiet meditation or watching the sunset.

Foothills Nature Preserve is a 1,400-acre preserve with rugged chaparral, woodland, fields, and a lake. Hike on 15 miles of trail, have a picnic, or enjoy spectacular views of the bay from Vista Hill. This park is open to all guests.

Pearson - Arastradero Preserve is a beautiful mixture of rolling grassland and broadleaf evergreen forest. Each area of the preserve has something different: views of the bay, a quiet grassland stroll, or a snooze by the lake.

The City of Palo Alto employs eight full time Park Rangers to steward and patrol the City's four thousand acres of open space lands. Rangers are generalist employees, meaning they fulfill many different roles including those in education & outreach, maintenance & construction, enforcement of preserve regulations, natural resources management, wildland firefighter, and emergency medical / search and rescue technicians.

The ranger patrol vehicles are distinctively marked with a green stripe down the side and carry a red-light bar on the roof. The city employs a fleet of four of these vehicles "Patrols", each of which are designed to meet federal standards as a Type 6 fire engine and carry 150 - 300 gallons of water. This allows the patrols to reach a scene of a small brush fire quickly and take initial action to extinguish it before it becomes a larger fire. The vehicles are also equipped with medical equipment including trauma bag, AED, and medical oxygen. 

Open Space offers a variety of nature programs, hikes, camps, walks, and other activities in the preserves.

Nature Notes

Palo Alto Baylands

Foothills Nature Preserve & Pearson-Arastradero Preserve