June 30, 2017

Palo Alto: El Palo Alto Park; things to do

101 South

El Palo Alto Park  

117 Palo Alto Ave./Alma St.

Located four blocks north of downtown and just east of El Camino Real and the railroad tracks, narrow El Palo Alto Park hugs San Francisquito Creek.  Home to El Palo Alto, also known as The Tall Tree--the 1,000-year-old Sequoia Sempervirens, or Coast Redwood, that gave the town its name.  El Palo Alto is more than a thousand years old, stands at 110.8 feet tall, and is California Heritage Landmark #2 (still, it is a baby compared to the giant trees up north on the Avenue of Giants).  A local landmark for hundreds of years, the tree was revered by the Costanoan/Ohlone Indians.  Gaspar de Portola and his party camped beneath it in 1769, and a cross was placed here in 1774 marking the site as a possible location for a Spanish mission.  The park features a lighted pedestrian/bike pathway that connects Palo Alto and Menlo Park.

entrance to El Palo Alto Park in Palo Alto, California
entrance to El Palo Alto Park in Palo Alto, California


bridge in El Palo Alto Park in Palo Alto, California
bridge in El Palo Alto Park in Palo Alto, California


sign in El Palo Alto Park in Palo Alto, California
sign in El Palo Alto Park in Palo Alto, California


namesake El Palo Alto tree in El Palo Alto Park in Palo Alto, California
namesake El Palo Alto tree in El Palo Alto Park in Palo Alto, California


namesake El Palo Alto tree in El Palo Alto Park in Palo Alto, California
namesake El Palo Alto tree in El Palo Alto Park in Palo Alto, California

 
More things to do in Palo Alto. 

More ideas for exploring Northern California. 

images ©2017 Carole Terwilliger Meyers 


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