Foothills Nature Preserve — Attraction in Palo Alto

My mother has been taking me here since I was in her stomach! We've seen countless deer, some coyote, and my mother once saw a mountain lion. I love this park because of the great scenery and some pretty decent trails. Every few days, my dad takes me fishing at the beautiful lake here, and it's a very enjoyable experience. However, there's the strict rule of Palo Alto residents only. Sadly, I live in Sunnyvale, not Palo Alto. The park is about 20 minutes or 30 minutes away from me; whenever we get turned away, it's a real dissapointment because we have to then settle for hidden villa (not close to as enjoyable). Anyways, despite the fact that I'm not a Palo Alto resident, I've been able to slip in many times. There's only two ways that I'm aware of.

1: There's the entrance, which is usually the only place most people enter. On the weekends, there almost always a ranger waiting there to see your ID. However, on the weekdays, there never is. But, there's an exeption to that. In summer time, when there are camps, Boy Scouts, etc. using the park for their activities, there will be a ranger waiting there to stop you. I think that after 5ish (there's no exact time) the ranger starts to circle the park, which means he/she is not at the entrance.

2: There's a trail that connects with a different park! The other park doesn't require for you to be a palo alto residence. If you take that trail to the foothills park, you're in! I've never tried this, but I know this because I saw some bicyclists riding from the other park into the Foothills park by using the other park's trail (I know that the other park starts with an "A"). Also, once, I got lost for about 5 hours on a trail at the top of the park. The trail apparently led us to a whole new park and we were absolutely confused. If you want to walk 5 hours to get in, go for it dude!

Anyways, what I'm saying is, there's some loopholes around the whole Palo Alto residence jazz. Good luck and have fun hiking!

P.s. The reason why I am rating it 3 stars instead of 1 is because it is still a great park besides the fact that only Palo Alto...

My uncle and I decided to start hiking (mostly for health). This was our second hike. I'd never been to the preserve before (even though I used to live in PA), and he hadn't been in YEARS. So we drove there and learned no entry fee is required, but there is a place to leave a donation.

You enter near the lake. Trails do start around it, but my uncle and I didn't see any parking that wasn't labeled 10-min-only, so we drove up to the information center. There, we met two rangers who were SUPER nice and answered our questions and showed us to the maps.

From there, we set out on the Los Trancos trail, which was directly across a wide field from the center. The hike begins immediately, going across a charming wood bridge and then up, up, up a steep and windy trail. I have to admit it was a little freaky in parts because the ground was a little slippery (loose soil), and there were patches that competed with tree roots, making a wobbly beginning walk for newbie hikers (such as we).

However, we persevered and soon found the trail MUCH more bearable. And it was a LOVELY day for the hike. Perfect conditions. We met only a one hiker on the beginning portion, then met quite a few more toward the end. (I'm forgetting trail names and don't have my map handy. I'll try to remember to consult my map and put the correct names in later.)

Anyhow, it was a beautiful hike. Saw wild turkeys at the picnic tables and information center (SO cool!) and small lizards on the hike. We also HEARD plenty of birds on the hike, though I only saw a woodpecker.

I would absolutely recommend to anyone to try out this preserve. Great trails and splendid views.

BTW, I thought the pictures were loading from back to front, so I put them in starting at the end of the trail (the information center building) to the beginning of the trail (the trail marker WAY across the field from the information center). So if you want to "follow" the hike, you'll have to view the pics from the last to the first posted....

I had visit this park on December/26/2020. After 51 years, the local park finally opened to non Palo Alto residents on December/17/2020. I was so blissful when I pass the the entrance kiosk of Palo Alto’s Foothills Park. No parking fee, clean bathroom, so many different parking areas, and picnic tables. Interpretive Center temporarily closing. I parked at Orchard Glen parking,I hiked Los Trancos Trail, it is 7.7 miles, 1,459 ft of elevation gain, one of the longest loop in the park. I really enjoyed the trails, mostly shade, a lot of ferns, very green, few benches along the trails,many bridges to cross,a lot is small loops, some one way trails for detour, so remember to pay extra attention. I hiked so many different trails since I am finally can hike in this park. Up to Vista Hill, this is one of the most spectacular views of San Francisco, Mount Tam, Mount Diablo, Stanford University,Sanjose City, San Rafael Richmond Bridge, .... Oh, about the lake! it has few docks, very clear water, too bad I didn’t hike around the lake, I wished I could but it was too crowded. I definitely come back here again since this park is really...