Alpine Pond

Nearby Destinations

Nearby Guides

Content
provided by

Viewed 1327 times

(2 votes, 1 review)

Difficulty: Easy
Length: 0.3 miles / 0.5 km
Duration: 1 hour or less

Family Friendly

Download to Phone

View Large Map

View Photos

Overview: MROSD docent coordinator Renee Fitzsimons and docent Sharon Thomas lead a 0.3-mile-long hike around Alpine Pond. Along the way, they explain where to look for brush rabbits, cormorants, crayfish, banana slugs, and pond turtles. They even make the shrubbery interesting, with stories about age-old human uses of cattails, willow, and oaks.

Tips: The preserve is open from dawn until a half hour after sunset. No dogs, please. Poison oak and ticks are the most common annoyances. The preserve is on a ridge at about 1,800 feet in elevation, so be prepared for more wind and weather than in the flatlands.

Park in the Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve parking lot at the northwest corner of Skyline Boulevard (Highway 35) and Page Mill Road/Alpine Road intersection (across Skyline Boulevard on the right). Walk through the tunnel under Alpine Road to reach the David C. Daniels Nature Center, where the tour starts.

Points of Interest

map

Daniels Center

What's ahead? If you look carefully you might spot hawks, coots, newts and more. You'll also meet one of our guides, Renee Fitzsimons, and two young visitors: Miles and Katelyn.

Audio

Please install flash to listen to the audio

01 Nature Center

map

Woodrat Den

If you look out into the brambles beside the picnic tables, you can see the remains of a woodrat den. Renee will help you imagine what goes on inside that heap of branches. Along this part of the trail, keep an ear out for scrub jays, red-shouldered hawks, and other birds.

Audio

Please install flash to listen to the audio

02 Woodrat Den

map

Cattails

Meet docent Sharon Thomas, and learn about a plant was important to Native Americans for food and fiber.

Audio

Please install flash to listen to the audio

03 Cattails

map

Willow

This graceful, long-limbed tree is always found near water. Learn about its medicinal uses, and then peek at the pond outlet to see what other forms of life may be lurking.

Audio

Please install flash to listen to the audio

04 Willow

map

Grinding Stone

At the base of the pond's earthen dam, a stone mortar will help you imagine what life was like for the native peoples who once lived here. Nearby is Old Page Mill Trail, a reminder of the more recent past. Here Douglas fir logs were once hauled from dense coastal forests to a wharf in Palo Alto.

Audio

Please install flash to listen to the audio

05 Grinding Stone

map

Turtle Island

From a bench on the southeast side of Alpine Pond, you can see a small island that was built by Boy Scouts. If you're lucky, you might see a sunning pond turtle or a cormorant here. When you've finished looking, head into the nature center.

Audio

Please install flash to listen to the audio

06 Turtle Island

Pictures in this guide taken by: joan_hamilton, Cindy Roessler, Karl Gohl, Joan Hamilton, Jack Owicki, naturespicsonline.com

Copyright 2011 Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. All rights reserved.

How does this work?

We followed this guide today with 3 generations of my family. The trail is short and easy, which is great for small kids. The tour stops (POIs) are well laid out along the trail and make for an engaging experience. It really makes this otherwise straightforward hike a lot more interesting, and you notice things you wouldn't notice by just following the trail without the guide.

The Daniels nature center was the highlight for the kids, esp the life-sized food chain puzzle on the wall. There are 2 picnic tables next to the nature center.

Everyone had a great time. Highly recommended.

TIPS:
* There is no cell phone data coverage, so make sure you download everything to your device ahead of time.
* The temperature here can be quite a bit lower than in the valley, due to elevation (about 700m / 2100 ft).

Visited on Apr 07, 2012

by joost on Apr 07, 2012 at 09:28:59 pm