What's Keeping Hawthorns Closed Is a Parking Lot on Alpine Road
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026
The 79 acres of grassland and oak woodland where Alpine Road meets Portola Road have been closed to the public since Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District took ownership in 2011. The trails planned for the Hawthorns Area are modest: about a mile and a half of loop and spur. The lot those trails need is what sets the schedule. Midpen's own Hawthorns FAQ, updated in August 2026, says it is not the district's practice to provide trails without parking. That means the day you can walk past the gate depends on a driveway, a vault toilet and roughly two dozen parking spaces off Alpine Road. Those all have to clear environmental review, and per the FAQ that review runs into 2028.
The property dates back further than most of Portola Valley's street grid. Judge James Monroe Allen and his wife Ida bought the land in 1885 as a summer estate and horticultural farm. The Woods family bought it in 1916 and over time moved it toward livestock.
In April 2005, Frederick N. Woods III granted a conservation easement to Peninsula Open Space Trust that permanently protects the property's natural, historic and scenic values. That easement already expects Midpen to own the land, and it names both a limited staging area and public access trails as allowed uses. Woods left the estate and an endowment to Midpen. The district took possession in 2011. At the time it was the largest private land gift Midpen had ever received.
So the question of whether a parking area could exist at Hawthorns was settled more than 20 years ago, in the easement. What's still open is where it goes, how big it gets and how cars get in and out.
The land is bounded by Alpine Road on the west, Los Trancos Road on the east, and private property on the north and south. Los Trancos Creek runs through it. With a creek, a steep site and two roads on either side, there are only a few places a lot could go.
People who live within walking distance often ask the obvious question: why not open the trails now and sort out parking later? The FAQ answers it directly. Midpen serves 770,000 constituents across San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, and most of them have to drive to reach a preserve. Trails without a lot would mainly serve people within walking, riding or biking distance. Everyone else would likely park on nearby neighborhood streets or at the businesses along Alpine Road. The district also cites access for visitors with mobility disabilities, families with small children, and people who may have trouble with wayfinding.
Midpen's 2024 transportation study estimated demand at 25 to 68 spaces. The schematic designs come in at the low end of that range. They call for about 25 spaces at first, with possible expansion to 50 only if the Board reviews it and demand consistently exceeds capacity. Starting small and growing only after use is measured fits the concerns the Public Access Working Group put at the top of its list: traffic safety, protecting natural resources, viewshed and aesthetics, and trail connections.
Los Trancos Road has been ruled out as an entrance. Midpen says sight distance there is inadequate for a public driveway, which leaves Alpine Road.
Both layouts below are still alternatives going into environmental review, and neither has been selected.
| Option 9 | Option 10 | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry point | Existing Hawthorns driveway on Alpine Road | New entry at Alpine Road and Portola Road |
| Initial spaces | About 25, expandable to 50 with Board review | About 25, expandable to 50 with Board review |
| Shared features | ADA spaces, vault toilet, trailhead amenities, turnaround | ADA spaces, vault toilet, trailhead amenities, turnaround |
| Alpine Road Trail | A segment shifts where it crosses the driveway | A segment shifts where it crosses the driveway |
The last row matters to anyone who uses the Alpine Road Trail. Under either option, Midpen would move part of the trail where it crosses the new driveway, so trail users get the priority crossing and some separation from cars waiting to pull out. The FAQ calls the Alpine Road Trail an important corridor in the Town's Trails Plan and acknowledges the Town's long-standing interest in improving it. Traffic counts in the 2024 study included Alpine Road east of Westridge Road, and Midpen says it will update that data during environmental review.
The plan behind the lot is small compared with the property. The Board-approved basis for the Area Plan opens about 66 of the 79 acres for on-trail use. It calls for about 1.5 miles of trail, made up of a loop and spurs out to viewpoints, plus benches, signs, trailhead amenities and local connections to the Town's Alpine Trail.
The working group recommended allowing hikers, equestrians, leashed dogs and bicycles on the internal loop, the spurs and the Alpine Trail connections. The lot won't have room for horse trailers, which need at least 50 feet each on a constrained, steep site. Midpen expects riders to come in from the adjacent Town trails and plans hitching posts along most of the trail system.
Some connections are not part of this project. The working group listed links to the Sweet Springs and Valley Oak trails as aspirations, but Midpen's August 2026 FAQ says neither one is planned now. A Sweet Springs connection would have to be explored with the Town and the Portola Valley Ranch community after Hawthorns opens. The working group's longer-range ideas toward Arastradero Preserve and Foothills Nature Preserve remain ideas.
Each step since the working group's recommendations has been about access and parking design:
The project page on Midpen's website still shows an older schedule, with environmental review in 2026 to 2027 and implementation starting in 2027. The August 2026 FAQ is the newer document and pushes both phases later. No public opening date has been announced. As of October 2026, the earliest construction could start, by Midpen's own schedule, is 2028. InMenlo's August 24, 2026 update reported the property still closed to general recreation while planners evaluate natural resources, cultural features and future regional trail connections.
The 13-acre historic complex in the southeast corner holds the main house, a garage, the lower barn and a cottage. Midpen's historic-resource study found that the complex appears eligible as a historic district. Midpen also cautions that its interim repairs are not long-term fixes.
On December 10, 2025, the Board deferred the Historic Complex Project until after the Area Plan is adopted and first implemented. In practice, the buildings now wait behind the trails, which wait behind the lot. According to the FAQ, Midpen tried in earlier years to find a partner for the buildings, and those efforts failed because of cost, incompatible proposed uses and zoning challenges.
In the meantime, the work has been about keeping the structures standing. Midpen lists the completed tasks as debris removal, partial demolition of collapsed stairs and additions, framing stabilization, foundation and framing bracing, carpentry repairs, windowsill seals with new mesh, bee removal and drainage improvements. Reroofing of the main house, cottage and garage is scheduled to begin this fall. Fresh roofs on Alpine Road this season will be maintenance on buildings whose long-term use hasn't been decided. They don't mean the property is about to open.
Earlier work on the wider property has been visible from the road. Midpen removed debris and old vehicles, worked with Grassroots Ecology to restore native grassland with carefully timed mowing against yellow star thistle and removal of French broom, and coordinated with the Woodside Fire Protection District fire marshal on a shaded fuel break, an emergency vehicle staging area and disked fire lines.
Right now the only way onto Hawthorns is a scheduled visit. Midpen's historic complex Q&A describes docent-led hikes as the way to see the site. No 2026 tour calendar has been posted.
The rest of Windy Hill Open Space Preserve is open. As of mid-October, Midpen's Windy Hill page lists no trail closures and shows the Betsy Crowder, Hamms Gulch, Lost and Razorback Ridge trails open to equestrians. That status can change, so check the page before you head out. Midpen has also scheduled an Autumnal Beauty Loop Hike at Windy Hill for Sunday, October 25. People who want to follow Hawthorns itself can sign up for project notifications on the Hawthorns Area Plan page. The next public steps there will be the environmental review document and the choice between the two Alpine Road entries.
Bob Kamangar has worked on Peninsula properties since 1985 as a developer, contractor and broker, and has seen how easements, access and old structures shape what a piece of land can become. If you live near Alpine Road and want a clear read on how projects like this one move through review, let's connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
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