Los Altos Hills: Trails, Nature, and History

In Los Altos Hills, trails and nature on the one hand, and historic places and tours on the other, can be considered as different travel interests. The Pathways System offers different types of use; each Open-Space Preserve has its own landscape features. Hidden Villa adds a history tour and activities in the garden and on the farm. As you plan your trip, you can consider which of these interests you would most like to shape your visit.

Trails and Landscapes: Different Interests

The Los Altos Hills Pathway System can be used for walking, running, cycling, and horseback riding. This range of options helps you choose an activity: you can plan a stay around trails explored on foot, or use the system by bike or on horseback. Information about the individual Preserves adds more specific landscape features and trail distances.

The annual Pathways Run/Walk starts at Westwind Community Barn, goes through Byrne Preserve, and continues into the Los Altos Hills Pathways System. The event includes a hilly 5K and 10K run or walk, as well as a 1-mile fun run. This offers different distances and formats within one event. Routes and formats may change; dates and registration details also vary. If you are including the run or walk in your trip plans, check these details in advance.

Westwind Community Barn borders Albert Byrne Open Space Preserve. An earlier Town description lists the Preserve as covering 88 acres, with four miles of trails; acreage and trail information may be revised in later descriptions. A historical Town description also records that part of Purissima Creek flows through O’Keefe Open Space Preserve. Thus, acreage and trail information are emphasized for Byrne Preserve, while O’Keefe Preserve is described in relation to the creek.

A historical Town description lists a 0.5-mile trail through an oak woodland characterized by riparian vegetation, along Hale Creek, at Juan Prada Mesa Open Space Preserve. Trail conditions may change. This differs in scale from the information for Byrne: here, one individual trail is described, while four miles of trails are listed for the Preserve there. If trail distance is a deciding factor for your visit, take current conditions into account when planning.

Historic Places and Hidden Villa

Morgan Manor and Griffin House are official historic landmarks of the Town of Los Altos Hills. Their names offer a cultural counterpoint to the trails and landscape features of the Preserves. You can include the two landmarks as distinct historical points of interest in your trip planning, without combining them with any of the described trails or Preserves into a route.

Hidden Villa offers a history tour about the history of the site. The timeline spans the original inhabitants thousands of years ago, the Mission era and the Gold Rush, through the Duveneck years and into the present. Advance registration is required for the Hidden Villa History Tour; program details and registration requirements may change. If the tour is the main reason for your visit, check current dates and registration information in advance.

Visitors are invited to explore Hidden Villa’s Education Garden. This invitation may change; check visitor information if you are planning a garden visit. Another offering is for students: on Farm Tours, they visit farm animals and stop at the Children’s Garden, where they receive fresh organic snacks. Programs and intended audiences may change. If you are considering this offering, confirm in advance whether it is intended for your group. This makes it possible to include Hidden Villa’s different offerings in your trip plans with a specific focus.

Discover more destinations: Los Gatos, Morgan Hill, San Martin, Saratoga, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Milpitas, San Jose.

For the broader travel overview: Santa Clara.