Palo Alto Baylands Preserve

Sunset over the former Palo Alto Yacht Harbor, 6/10/07

Introduction

2100 acres along the Bay  are part of Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve. The area is a complex of manmade and natural features. The manmade features include the Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course, the Palo Alto Airport, the Baylands Athletic Center, the Palo Alto Regional Water Control Plant, and the landfills of the Palo Alto Recycling Center. The natural features include creeks, sloughs, and large areas of freshwater and saltwater marshland rich in wildlife. There is also a duck pond, picnic areas, small boat launching ramp, a nature center, and park built on a former landfill. The Baylands are technically the John Fletcher Byxbee Recreation Area, named after the Palo Alto City Engineer who first planned this area in the 1920's and 30's.  The park started with the purchase of 40 acres of marshland. Over the years, it was gradually expanded to its present size. Starting in the 1960's, increasing environmental awareness resulted in efforts that have shifted from exploiting the land to restoring wetland environments and turning much of the Baylands into a nature preserve..

Despite being surrounded by developments, the Baylands has become one of the most important natural environments in the Bay Area. It is particularly rich in bird life. It has a large resident population of birds as well as being a major migratory stopover on the Pacific Flyway. Over 150 species of birds can be seen here, including the endangered clapper rail. Noted wildlife photographer B. Moose Peterson has written that the Baylands have "the West Coast's finest bird photography." The Baylands area not only attracts a wide variety of birds, it has many excellent spots for viewing them. Bird watchers, with binoculars, telescopes, and telephoto lenses, flock to the area. The endangered salt marsh harvest mouse also finds a home in the pickleweed marshes here.

The Bay Trail runs around and through the middle of Baylands. The trail begins at the edge of Shoreline at Mountain View Park on the levee between Charleston Slough and Adobe Creek, which is the Marsh Loop of the Bay Trail. The long, wide, curving levee trail eventually touches San Francisco Bay itself and curves to the west. After passing Hooks Island, the trail enters Baylands Nature Preserve in Palo Alto. It crosses over a dam on Matadero Creek. The sailing station boat launching dock is visible on the opposite shore of the channel at the mouth of the former Palo Alto Yacht Harbor. Baylands Nature Preserve surrounds what used to be the Palo Alto Yacht Harbor, now a silted-in mud flat and reed-filled marsh. It's a shelter for tremendous numbers and varieties of birds.

The trail then passes Byxbee Park.  Byxbee Park is a unique place, built on hills comprising a former landfill (an active landfill is adjacent). It is a combination of nature and landscape art. The park is sandwiched between Matadero Creek and the marsh next to the former yacht harbor.  Paths covered with crushed oyster shells wind up the grass-covered hills. On one side is a field of telephone poles of varying heights, following the hill contours. They are reminiscent of the pier pilings in the bay. Small hillocks resemble Indian shell mounds. A path leads along Matadero Creek, but is currently closed off at the end of the park. Past Byxbee Park, a bike path leads along Embarcadero Road to Palo Alto Airport, Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course, and the Palo Alto Duck Pond. Embarcadero Road ends at a parking lot near the boat launching ramp.

Within the park is the Lucy Evans Nature Interpretive Center. It sits on piers over the edge of the marsh. A long, straight wooden boardwalk extends deep into the marsh towards the Bay. Crossing it are narrow PG&E catwalks, which are fenced off and off-limits. At the end of the boardwalk is an observation platform near the shore of the bay.

Bicycle trails lead around the levees and connect to Embarcadero Road, which hits East Bayshore Road. East Bayshore Road is a frontage road to Hwy 101. Bike lanes are along the sides of the road. You can take this road back to Shoreline Park. A path leads into the northwestern edge of the park. Farther north is the Menlo Park Bay Trail to Bayfront Park and Ravenswood Open Space Preserve.

Access Information

There are several ways to access Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve. The preserve is north of Hwy 101. The heart of the park can be reached from Embarcadero Road east.  It can also be reached from the southeast from Shoreline at Mountain View Park. The tour below begins as a continuation of the Shoreline Park tour. To get to this point directly, take the San Antonio Road exit from Hwy 101 and head north. The road turns right at Terminal Blvd. Parking is available along Terminal Blvd. next to Coast Casey Forebay. Take the trail to the left and follow along the west bank of the forebay. At the trail junction, stay to the left and head up the dirt levee trail to Palo Alto Baylands. The tour will make a loop around the Palo Alto Baylands. It can be used to continue on to the part of the Palo Alto Baylands in East Palo Alto and Ravenswood Open Space Preserve to the northwest or Shoreline at Mountain View Park and the Stevens Creek Trail to the southeast.

The tour below begins as a branch off the Shoreline at Mountain View tour. It can be continued from the middle of the Shoreline tour where it meets Adobe Creek. See that page for access instructions. To begin the tour from this point, the closest access point is at the end of San Antonio Road. Take the San Antonio Road exit from US 101 and head north. San Antonio Road ends at Terminal Blvd. Parking is available along Terminal Blvd. Then entrance to Shoreline Park is near the corner of San Antonio Road and Shoreline Blvd. 

Another way to reach the Baylands from south of Hwy 101 is to take the overpass by Oregon Expressway. It is located near the end of Oregon Avenue, which runs parallel and along the northwest side of Oregon Expressway. It leads to the Bay Trail between Faber Place and East Bayshore Road.

Description and Views

Pelicans in the wetlands of Adobe Creek, west of Shoreline at Mountain View Park 7/21/02


Pelicans in the Adobe Creek wetlands, 7/21/02


Pelicans in Adobe Creek, with Byxbee Park and the landfill hills in the background 7/21/02


Birds in Adobe Creek, with the Byxbee Park hills and the Dumbarton Bridge in the background, 2/1/09.


Egret in Adobe Creek, with the Dumbarton Bridge in the background, 2/1/09.


Hikers on the Baylands trail by the Adobe Creek Flood Control Basin, 2/1/09


The Baylands Trail reaches San Francisco Bay, 2/1/09


Birds on a catwalk on the Bay, 2/1/09.


Sunset on the channel by Hooks Island 6/10/07


Tidal Dam on the Flood Control Basin, 6/10/07


Looking towards the mouth of the Palo Alto Yacht Harbor and the Sailing Station from near the dam, 9/3/07.


Byxbee Park pole field, 11/23/02


View of the former Palo Alto Yacht Harbor from the Byxbee Park hills, 11/23/02


View from the Byxbee Park hills of the chevrons pointing to the Palo Alto Airport runway, 11/23/02


Path on top of the Byxbee Park hills, 11/23/02


Hillocks on top of the Byxbee Park hills, 11/23/02


Wind sculpture on top of the Byxbee Park hills, 11/23/02


View of Mayfield Slough from the top of the Byxbee Park hills, 11/23/02


Trail below the Byxbee Park hills, 5/18/03


Palo Alto Yacht Harbor Basin at high tide, former Sea Scouts building in the background, 6/10/07


The Duck Pond, 5/27/07


The Duck Pond, 11/23/02


The Duck Pond, 9/03/07


The north side of the Palo Alto Yacht Harbor Basin, 5/18/03


Sculpture in parking lot by the Sailing Station, 6/10/07


The pier and dock at the Sailing Station, 6/10/07


Birdwatchers by the tidal lagoon across from the nature center, 5/27/07


Trail leading to the Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center, 6/10/07


Boardwalk from the nature center to the Bay, 6/10/07


The boardwalk near the Bay in the late fall, 11/23/02


The boardwalk near the bay in the summer, 6/10/07


The shoreline on San Francisco Bay beyond the boardwalk, 6/10/07


Looking back along the boardwalk towards the nature center, 6/10/07


Binoculars and interpretive signs at the nature center, near the boardwalk entrance, 5/18/03


Swallows' nests in the eaves of the nature center, 6/10/07


The nature center and boardwalk perched on piers over the Harriet Mundy Marsh, 5/13/03


Birds in the Harriet Mundy Marsh west of the nature center, 6/10/07


The Harriet Mundy Marsh and the Dumbarton Bridge, 6/10/07


The Harriet Mundy Marsh and the Dumbarton Bridge and train crossing, 6/10/07


Mouth of San Francisquito Creek, 6/10/07


San Francisquito Creek across from the Ravenswood Open Space Preserve, 6/10/07


The Palo Alto Airport runway from the San Francisquito Creek Trail, 6/10/07


San Francisquito Creek from the trail bridge to Ravenswood, 6/10/07


The Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course from the San Francisquito Creek Trail, 6/10/07


The Renzel Trail (part of the Bay Trail) along East Bayshore Road, 5/18/03


Pelicans in the Flood Control Basin, 5/18/03


Adobe Creek Flood Control Basin, 9/3/07


The Bay Trail Bridge over Adobe Creek, near East Bayshore Road, 7/21/02

The trail turns left after the bridge and leads back to Shoreline Park.

Links

• Ron Horii's Bay Trail pages.