Foothills Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Foothills Park |
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The entrance to Foothills Park from Page Mill Road
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| Area | 1,400-acre (570 ha) |
| Created | 1965 |
| Operated by | Palo Alto |
Foothills Park is a large park and nature preserve in Palo Alto, California. It covers about 1,400 acres (567 hectares) in the Santa Cruz Mountains. For a long time, from 1969 to 2020, only people who lived or worked in Palo Alto could visit the park. This rule caused a lot of debate. In 2020, a group called the ACLU filed a lawsuit about it. The park finally opened to everyone on December 17, 2020.
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Park Location and Features
Foothills Park is located in the eastern part of the Santa Cruz Mountains, near Palo Alto. On its eastern side, it's next to Page Mill Road. To the north, you'll find the Arastradero Preserve, which is also owned by Palo Alto. To the south, there's the Los Trancos Open Space Preserve.
The park is very big, covering almost one-tenth of all the land in Palo Alto. About 90 acres (36 hectares) of the park have special areas for visitors. These include a large grassy field, places for picnics, and a campground where you can set up tents. There's also a nature center where you can learn about the park's plants and animals.
Boronda Lake Activities
Inside the park, you'll find Boronda Lake. This lake is a great spot for fishing, rowing, and canoeing. A stream called Buckeye Creek flows through the park, and a dam on one of its smaller branches created Boronda Lake.
Trails for Exploring
Foothills Park has about 15 miles (24 kilometers) of trails for hiking and exploring. One important trail is the Bay-to-Ridge Trail. When it's finished, this trail will connect the Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve all the way to the Bay Area Ridge Trail. Even when the park had visitor restrictions, people who didn't live in Palo Alto could still use this trail to pass through the park.
History of Foothills Park
Most of the land for Foothills Park was bought from a person named Russel V. Lee. He was one of the founders of the Palo Alto Medical Clinic. In 1958, he offered to sell 1,294 acres of his land to the city of Palo Alto. He wanted the city to keep it as open space. The cost was about $1.3 million, which was a lot of money back then.
Buying the Land
Because the cost was so high, Palo Alto asked its citizens to vote on buying the land in 1959. About 62% of the voters said yes! The city council also asked nearby towns like Portola Valley and Los Altos Hills to help pay, but they said no. In 1964, Santa Clara County offered to pay about 40% of the cost. They wanted the park to be open to everyone, but Palo Alto said no to that offer.
The park officially opened on June 19, 1965. The rule that only Palo Alto residents and their guests could enter started in 1969.
Changes to Access Rules
In 2005, Santa Clara County gave Palo Alto $2 million. This money helped Palo Alto buy 13 more acres of land next to the park. In return, Palo Alto allowed anyone, even non-residents, to walk through that new area and enter Foothills Park using trails from Arastradero Preserve.
For a long time, it was against the rules for someone who didn't live in Palo Alto to enter the park, unless they were just passing through on specific trails. The city also limited the total number of visitors at one time to 1,000 people.
The Fight for Open Access
In July 2020, activists painted "DESEGREGATE" outside the park's front gate. They were protesting the rule that limited who could visit. Even though the rule didn't mention race, they felt it was connected to unfair practices from the past.
In August 2020, the Palo Alto City Council voted to try a one-year test. This test would allow a limited number of non-residents to visit the park. They would have to pay a small fee, about $6, to help cover the costs of staffing the park entrance. After this test, the city planned to let Palo Alto residents vote on whether to open the park to everyone.
Lawsuit and Final Decision
In September 2020, the ACLU filed a lawsuit. They did this on behalf of the local NAACP. The lawsuit said that the park's restriction was "unconstitutional." It argued that the rule stopped people from their basic rights to move freely, speak, and gather.
Because of this lawsuit, the Palo Alto City Council voted on November 3, 2020, to get rid of the old rule. The vote was 5 to 2. They decided to temporarily lower the number of visitors allowed at one time to 750. On November 16, the final decision was made: Foothills Park would open to everyone on December 17, 2020. After the first 90 days, the visitor limit would go back up to 1,000 people per day. There would be no entrance or parking fee for now.
Gallery
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The view from the main entrance
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Las Trampas Valley
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The interpretive center
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The interpretive center
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There are over fifty picnic tables in the park
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Orchard Glen
Camping at Foothills Park
Towle Campground at Foothills Park offers eight campsites just for tents. These campsites are open from May 1st through October 31st each year. Every campsite has a picnic table, a barbeque grill, a food locker, and water. The campground also has two campfire circles. Portable toilets are shared among the sites. Full bathroom facilities are available about a mile down the road.
