Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve Trailhead

Nice walking trails with views of water and wildlife. We had a great walk here with our dog rescue group (Greyhound Friends For Life), but these were the pitfalls we encountered.

- bring water for your dog, as it gets surprisingly hot early in the day and there's no shade anywhere. There's a water dispenser at the trailhead but that's it. Not everyone brought water, so if others in the group hadn't had plenty to share, some dogs might have overheated.

- use an OutFox mask or be careful letting your dog interact with the grass, there are a LOT of foxtails and other dangerous grass seeds they can get in their nose/eyes/ears.

- the trails can be essentially walled in in sections on both sides by tall, tick-filled grasses. Check your dogs for ticks after you walk, including inside the ears, and put them on tick protection if you want to go here regularly.

Also, reminder to please keep your dog on leash! This is an on-leash area and is a protected wildlife space. Bikes can also come around corners quite quickly. It's safest for everyone to keep your dog legally leashed.

Love walking here at night. Very quiet and peaceful.
The lights are nice too.

It does smell like bird poop though, so ve prepared for that lol.

It's a really nice place to get out and explore. Tons of birds and views of the bay. However a section of the trail runs parallel to the freeway along the frontage road if you make it a loop. Not the prettiest portion of the trail but overall a great loop.

Bay area best place to ride your bike or walk or kayak. So many birds. This is the area you can bring your kayak. This day the water was low though. There is a rest room nearby in tge nature museum down the road. And I saw portables too nearby.

You can see an amazing diversity of shorebirds on the 15 miles of trails winding throughout these extensive wetlands. Ample parking at Shoreline Lake next to Rengsdorf House. Best birding in Bay Area I have visited so far.