Foothills Open Space Preserve

This tiny 212-acre gem’s steep and forested ravines form part of the Adobe Creek watershed above Hidden Villa Ranch. Here you’ll find a grassy ridgetop surrounded by steep, chaparral-covered slopes, with oak-madrone woodland in the ravines and on the north-facing slopes. Though it is unassuming, this preserve is important — it was the very first Midpen preserve!  

The opportunity to purchase the initial 90 acres of this Preserve came at a time when Midpen (known then as the Midpeninsula Regional Park District) was in its infancy and the criteria for land purchases were still being established. When Midpen was formed in 1972, it was a year or so before funds were available to buy land. Later this property was used to obtain a matching grant for the purchase of Stevens Creek Shoreline Nature Study Area!  

Thank you to the small but mighty Foothills Open Space Preserve for kicking off 50 years of land preservation!  

Fun fact: this preserve sits across from the City of Palo Alto’s Foothills Park, but these two similarly named preserves are managed separately from one another!