Palo Alto Open Space

The County of Santa Clara Vector Control District will conduct mosquito treatment on Wednesday, February 4 starting at 8 a.m. in the Palo Alto flood basin of the Baylands Nature Preserve. This annual preventative treatment will take approximately 6 - 8 hours using a helicopter, weather permitting. Learn more: https://bit.ly/45O6eL7

"Though small in number, their influence is large. Many and long are the duties heaped upon their shoulders.". - Stephen Mather, 1st National Park Service Director.

July 31st is World Ranger Day. A time to say thanks to those who take care of our parks and open spaces, and honor those who have died in the line of duty. (Five in North America this year alone, and one hundred and seventy five across forty-five different countries. )

Weather it's clearing a trail, saving an injured person or animal, helping extinguish a wildfire, protecting the park from those seek to cause harm, leading you home when you're lost in the dark woods, or helping spark that moment of inspiration through teaching Rangers truly do it all.

Reminder for this morning, Arastradero Preserve's Gateway Parking Lot will not open until 9:30 AM to allow for maintenance and fire fuel reduction work. Please use the Page Mill Park & Ride or Street Side Parking East of Tracy Ct on Arastradero Road as Alternative parking locations.

To stay up to date on trail and facility closures, please check our website at: www.paloalto.gov/News-Articles/Community-Services/Open-Space-Preserve-Alerts-Notifications-and-Closures

Help us restore the Bayland's marshes by removing invasive and harmful plants.

Saturday, July 19th, starting at 9:00 AM

Palo Alto Sail Station Parking Lot, Baylands Nature Preserve, Palo Alto, CA

Join us for a rewarding day of community service as we work together to remove invasive plants and help restore the natural beauty of the Baylands Nature Preserve.

Directions: From Highway 101, take the Embarcadero Road/Oregon Expressway exit. Turn east onto Embarcadero Road, turn left at the stop sign and follow it into the Preserve until it ends at the Sail Station parking lot.

What to Bring: Water bottle, hat, sunscreen, sturdy shoes, and work gloves (if you have them – some will be provided).

All ages are welcome! Youth should be accompanied by an adult.

Contact for questions contact Ranger David Aguirre at: [email protected]

Let's make a difference together!

Want to change up your Monday commute? Do you like Bayfront marshes and a desire to help your community and your local environment?

We are hiring for a Park Ranger to work out of the Baylands Ranger Station.

Apply at: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/paloaltoca

Yesterday was and for this we wanted to share some photos out of our archive. The Palo Alto Rangers have been trained and responding to wildland fires as far back as 1966. Rangers are trained to the Federal Type 2 classification and our patrol trucks are considered Type 6 fire engines.

Photos:
1.) Mid-1990s Prescribed Burn at Camp Roberts, California

2.) Rangers during the clean up of Arastradero Preserve following the 1985 Liddicoat Fire

3. & 4) 2022 Prescribed Burn at Calero County Park in San Jose.

5. & 6.) Rangers and Palo Alto Fire Firefighters at the 2025 Roble Fire assisting Santa Clara County Firefighters.

As we head into the 4th of July holiday weekend, we hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday weekend. Please remember to be fire safe out there as well!

MEMORIAL DAY - 5/26/2025

UPDATE: Power has been restored, once safety checks are completed Foothills Nature Preserve will re-open by 10:30 AM.

6:36 AM - Facilities at the Foothills Nature Preserve are closed due to a power outage effecting the City's utility system throughout the Foothills area. There is no ETA on restoration at this time. The preserve is closed to vehicle traffic because of the outage, while pedestrians and cyclist can still enter for passive recreation only.

This closure helps protect park infrastructure and visitors, conserve water and sewage capacity for Foothills residents, and allows Rangers to assist city staff with emergency response during this period. Thank you for your understanding.

Facilities at the Arastradero Nature Preserve are open due to being on solar power.

To follow the outage status please check here: https://utccoutage.cityofpaloalto.org/

Rangers will be monitoring conditions, and assisting our allied agencies with storm response duties tomorrow and Friday.

Additionally, vehicle entry to Foothills Nature Preserve will be temporarily suspended due to potential high winds and falling tree debris. Check: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/.../City-Manager/STORM-UPDATE for more updates.

We hope you decided to take a day off from visiting the preserves and come back later once the storm subsides.

Open Space Rangers have been supporting the Palo Alto Fire Department response for an aircraft accident at the Palo Alto Baylands.

Embarcadero Road at the Duck Pond was closed today starting at 3PM and will reopen tomorrow morning at 8 AM.

A small aircraft ran off the runway at the Palo Alto Airport and drifted into the Baylands Nature Preserve marshland near to the airport. Palo Alto Fire Department Haz Mat crews are on scene addressing a fuel leak. No injuries reported. Baylands closure in effect. Avoid the area. https://bit.ly/4hzdlet Palo Alto Open Space

It's halfway through the work week, here's a little bit of Open Space to brighten your day!

Over the last few weeks Open Space Rangers and Technicians have been taking advantage of the drier moments of this winter to catch up on maintenance tasks around the preserves. This includes fence & gate installations / replacements, and brushing back woody vegetation along fire roads. These projects help protect natural resources and improve visitor and our community's safety.