The Stanford Dish Hike

There is lots of space for street side parking on Stanford Avenue, but it can fill up quickly, especially on sunny days, so you may have to park several hundred yards away.

U-turns are prohibited on Stanford Ave. This rule is frequently enforced, so to avoid a ticket don't make a U-turn when you see a parking spot at the opposite side of the street. A good parking strategy is to approach the Dish on Junipero Serra Blvd, and turn into Stanford Ave (away from the Dish entrance). When you find a spot on the right-hand side of the street, take it. If there are no spots on the right-hand side, but you see spots on the left-hand side, make a right onto Raimundo Way, and turn around, then make a left on Stanford Ave and snatch your parking spot.

When parking make sure to watch out for bicyclists.

Enter the Dish area here and don't forget to greet the friendly guard. Many joggers stop here to stretch.

To start the Dish trail simply follow the paved trail leading up the hill.

Turn left here the follow the Dish loop in clockwise direction. Where the trail enters a short tree-lined section it will become quite steep for a short while.

After a sustained climb you've reached the highest point of the Dish loop. Several ups and downs are still to come, but it's mostly down.

Enjoy the views on Stanford, the foothills and the San Francisco Bay. On clear days you can even see San Francisco's skyline from here.

Continue straight on here, unless you want to add another mile or 2 on the backside of the Dish, which is an out and back variant.

Take a right here to loop back to the start. There are a couple of ups and downs still waiting for you, but most of the hills are behind you now.

After a short and steep downhill section you are on the home stretch. From here only a final short climb will follow towards the very end.

You'll pass about a dozen houses on the left of the trail, with gardens extending toward the Dish trail, some of who have a gates to dish trail. Sounds like a great place to live? Prices of these houses vary between $1.3 million and $ 3 million (according to Zillow.com).

The Stanford Dish is a radio telescope and a major landmark that is clearly visible from Stanford University and from Highway 280.

The 150-foot diameter dish was built in 1966 by the Stanford Research Institute. The cost to construct the telescope was $4.5 million, and was funded by the United States Air Force, with the original purpose of studying the chemical composition of the atmosphere.

Later on, the Dish was used to communicate with satellites and spacecraft. With its unique Bistatic range radio communications, where the transmitter and receiver are separate units, the powerful radar antenna was well-suited for communicating with spacecraft in regions where conventional radio signals may be disrupted.

At one point, the Dish transmitted signals to each of the Voyager crafts that NASA dispatched into the outer reaches of the solar system. It has also been used to remotely recalibrate ailing satellites orbiting the Earth.

(Source: Wikipedia)

This is the only drink water available in the Dish area. To access it, take the downward sloping side trail to the left. The water fountain is located on your right, just below the main trail.