"Identify the trail only on the Town's pathways map without pursuing broader promotion."
That phrase comes from the motion Mayor Bhateja made on August 20, 2026. With it, the Los Altos Hills City Council gave the Juan Bautista de Anza Historic Trail a local designation. The vote was 4-0-1. Mayor Bhateja, Vice Mayor Swan and Council Members Mok and Tyson voted yes, and Council Member Tankha was absent. The same motion set two more limits. Wooden signs will go up only as needed to mark the route, and the designation stays off any regional or national promotion.
In practice, Los Altos Hills now has a route tied to a 1776 Spanish expedition that the town chose to mark for its own residents and not for visitors. The route follows Moody Road, the road that passes Hidden Villa's entrance. Signs are expected before the end of the year.
Why the Route Ended Up on Moody Road
The question went to the Pathways Committee first. On May 14, committee chair Nick Erndt presented two ways to route the Anza trail between the Rhus Ridge Trailhead and the Pearson-Arastradero Preserve area.
| Option 1 | Option 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Path | Through town on existing roads and pathways | Around town on regional trails in the open space preserves to the west |
| Named roads | Moody Road, Purissima Road, Arastradero Road | None named |
| Character | Relatively flat and accessible, passing community features | More scenic, steeper hiking |
Erndt said the committee considered both options reasonable. By August, staff had revised the alignment to follow Moody Road, because the town holds no trail easements on Rhus Ridge Road. Without an easement, the town can't put a public route on a road, however close it runs to the trailhead.
The council's August discussion also addressed the route's intended reach. Several council members and members of the public worried that regional or national promotion would draw visitors unfamiliar with the town's pathways. They listed possible effects on privacy, parking, traffic, maintenance and neighborhoods. Mayor Bhateja said he supported recognizing the route's history locally but had concerns about national promotion.
What the Signs Will Look Like
The council also addressed what the markers will look like. Mayor Bhateja proposed signs that match the town's existing pathway signage, kept to a minimum. Public commenters suggested small markers or badges on existing pathway posts in place of larger trail signs. Five residents spoke on the item: Alisa Bredo, Betty Kayton, Jim Waschura, Anand Ranganstan and Roger Spreen.
The minutes don't say exactly where each marker goes or give a street-by-street map of the final route. The Public Works Department's August update says staff will work with the Pathways Committee on the signs, which should be installed before the end of the year. Expect to see them on Moody Road sometime this fall or early winter. Most likely they'll be small and wooden, possibly fixed to posts that are already there.
What Happened Here in 1776, and What Didn't
The route commemorates history. It doesn't retrace a known path. The National Park Service records that Anza's exploring party left Monterey on March 23, 1776, to scout the San Francisco Bay area, and reached Camp #93 at San Joseph de Cupertino on March 25. The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District says Anza's expedition passed through the Rancho San Antonio area in March 1776. Midpen also notes that a large Ohlone village called Partacsi once stood there. No source we found shows the 1776 party traveling on today's Moody Road. The designation honors the expedition's passage through the area and doesn't claim footprint accuracy.
Moody Road has plenty of history of its own. A December 2023 town newsletter names the Muwekma Ohlone as the area's first inhabitants. It says the Spanish mission system displaced or absorbed about 2,000 Ohlone people in the 1770s. According to the same newsletter, missionaries planted the olive grove at Hidden Villa's entrance in 1777, the year after the expedition, and it still produces olives. The town's historic-site inventory describes Moody Road as an old Indian trail that later became a lumber road and then a stage road. G.W. Moody petitioned for it in 1867, and the inventory dates the road to 1888.
The new signs add another layer to a road that has carried foot traffic, timber and stagecoaches.
Walking the Moody Road End
The designated route sits near the town's best trail connections, which helps if you want to walk it now. Hidden Villa, at 26870 Moody Road, lists two trails into Rancho San Antonio, the Hostel Trail and the Ewing Hill Trail. Hidden Villa's trail map gives these figures:
- Creek Trail: 0.96 mile along Adobe Creek with 240 feet of elevation gain, described as gentle. It connects to Ewing Hill Trail.
- Ewing Hill Trail: 0.72 mile with a steep climb and 470 feet of gain.
- Hostel Trail: 1.54 miles with a steep first stretch and 650 feet of gain.
Parking at Hidden Villa takes a day pass. Each $10 reservation covers one vehicle and everyone in it, and help is available for visitors who can't pay. Hidden Villa asks visitors to use its Main Parking Lot and not to park on Moody Road. That's the same parking concern the council raised in August. Hidden Villa's 2018 visitor guide lists regular-season hours as Tuesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to dusk, from mid-August through mid-June. The guide is several years old, so check the current schedule with Hidden Villa before you go.
At the Rhus Ridge end, Midpen lists a parking area at the north end of Rancho San Antonio Preserve with nine spaces plus one ADA space. Ten spaces fill quickly, reinforcing the council’s concern that broader promotion could add parking pressure. The preserve is open from half an hour before official sunrise to half an hour after official sunset. If you plan to continue into Rancho San Antonio in the next two weeks, Midpen has scheduled repair closures on the Farm Bypass Trail for October 6 to 9 and October 13 to 16. Midpen notes that closures can change from day to day without notice, so check its trail conditions page before you leave.
The Pathway Work Heading Toward Moody Road
The Anza designation fits into a larger, slower effort to connect the town's pathways, and part of that work is aimed at Moody Road. According to the Public Works Department's August 27 update, town maintenance staff are building Phase I of the Altamont Road Pathway themselves. It's about 1,300 feet of roadside path from Corbetta Lane to Altamont Plunge. Concrete curb repairs were done, and a water trailer for this and future pathway jobs was expected by the end of September or early October. Depending on that delivery and staff availability, the town expected to finish by the end of October. We found no later report confirming completion, so treat that date as a target.
Phase II would add the remaining 2,200 feet, from Altamont Plunge to Moody Road. First, staff need to repair drainage on one segment and remove a large eucalyptus with an 82-inch trunk diameter. Every removal quote so far has come in above $30,000, and the Pathways Committee asked staff to look for other options. The August update gives no start date for Phase II. For now, one tree stands between the Altamont pathway and the road that carries the town's new historic route.
The town's pathway project list explains why the Altamont Plunge connection matters. It identifies heavy use by vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians, downhill speeding, and a steep drop-off where the roadside path meets the off-road path from Vinedo Lane. At the south end of town, the Magdalena Road Pathway adds a new 1,300-foot connection as part of the proposed Ravensbury-Magdalena loop. Construction started in early August, and in late August the contractor was laying quarry fines, with completion expected "by October." The same project list says the Magdalena missing links matter because the winding road has poor sight lines and narrow or missing shoulders that can push walkers into the street.
These projects and the Anza signs follow the same idea. Each one improves walking between places residents already go, without adding parking or turning a route into a regional attraction.
Dates on the Corridor This Fall
Several events between now and the holidays fall along the Moody and Altamont roads:
- October 4, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.: Star Party at Hidden Villa. It's free, but registration is required.
- October 10, 10 to 11:30 a.m.: Acorn Adventure at Hidden Villa, an autumn walk plus needle-felting, $75 per person.
- December 5, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Watercolor Holiday Cards at Hidden Villa, $60 per person, ages 12 and up.
- December 6, 2 to 5 p.m.: The town's Barn Lighting at Westwind Community Barn, 27210 Altamont Road, with holiday crafts, face painting, pony rides, a petting zoo and Santa. The lighting countdown is at 5 p.m.
- December 11, 6 to 8 p.m.: A second Star Party at Hidden Villa, also free with registration.
Westwind Barn also came before the council in August. The council renewed the barn's conditional use permit and kept the limit of five horse shows a year, after a request to raise it to eight. The renewal also added a yearly compliance review by the Parks and Recreation Committee, a step Mayor Bhateja linked to talks with neighboring residents. The same meeting approved both the barn permit and the Anza designation.
Tom Correia has spent his life on these Peninsula roads and has watched small decisions like this one shape how a town works day to day. If you live near Moody or Altamont Road and want to know how this fall's pathway work affects your property, Tom Correia can walk the route with you and give you a free home valuation.
