Arastradero Preserve
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Arastradero Preserve, officially known as Enid W. Pearson–Arastradero Preserve, is a 622 acres (252 hectares)
Description
Arastradero Preserve consists of rolling
The east portion of the preserve protects Arastradero Creek, which flows into Matadero Creek at the junction of Arastradero Road and Page Mill Road. Near the East side about a quarter mile south of the entrance is Arastradero Lake, and further south up into the preserve is Sobey Pond. The lake is also about 0.2 miles from the Paseo del Roble entrance. The southwest portion of the preserve protects seasonal Felt Creek, which runs beneath Arastradero Road and is diverted to Felt Lake. In wet years, Felt Lake releases flows which reach Los Trancos Creek, a San Francisquito Creek tributary.
Ecology
The preserve contains an abundance of wildlife, including
From 2016 through 2020, a pair of bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) has nested in a large eucalyptus tree near Felt Lake and the preserve.[3]
Trails
The Pearson–Arastradero Preserve has 10.25 miles (16.50 km) of trails for
Restoration and stewardship activities
Grassroots Ecology, a local environmental nonprofit, has run a collaborative stewardship program on the preserve in cooperation with the City of Palo Alto since 1997. Volunteers and Grassroots Ecology staff work to improve the Preserve by eliminating invasive weeds such as non-native thistles, planting native species such as blue wild rye and engaging local youth and community members.
Surroundings and history
Portions of Arastradero Preserve border Foothills Park (on the South side), the Palo Alto Golf Course (on the East side), open land owned by Stanford University (to the North), and one of the campuses of Palo Alto University (to the West). From the hills on the North Side, one can see Felt Lake which is otherwise difficult to see from public lands except Vista Hill in Foothills Park. Because most of the golf course in on a flat mesa at a higher elevation than the preserve, the golf course is largely invisible from the preserve.
There remains a small piece of private property adjacent to Arastradero Road surrounded on all sides by the preserve which currently has no structures. There had been a private home deep within the preserve until the late 1990s which has now been torn down.
In 2006 a small visitor's center was erected near the parking lot entrance which contains a miniature scale model of the park and exhibits explaining the ecology, flora, and fauna of the region.
References
- ^ a b "Arastradero Preserve Trail Map" (PDF). City of Palo Alto. 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
- ^ a b c "City of Palo Alto – Arastradero Webpage".
- ^ Tom Stienstra (October 13, 2019). "In Bay Area and beyond, bald eagles steal the show". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 20, 2020.