Since August 20, 2026, a stretch of the Juan Bautista de Anza Historic Trail has had official standing on Los Altos Hills pathways. Most people walking Moody Road this fall would never know it. The Town Council approved the designation 4-0-1 and in the same motion limited how far it would reach. The route appears only on the Town's pathways map. It gets as few wooden signs as possible. The Town did not pursue certification from the National Park Service or a place on a countywide trail map.
The town accepted a piece of national history and kept the welcome sign small. Looked at closely, that same choice explains the rest of this fall's work on the pathways.
A 1,200-mile trail, recognized one road at a time
Congress made the Juan Bautista de Anza Trail a National Historic Trail in 1990. Today it runs about 1,200 miles through Arizona and California. The National Park Service manages it with state agencies, local governments and nonprofits, according to the Town's August 20 staff report. The trail marks the 1775–1776 expedition that opened the first overland route to Alta California, and that expedition led directly to the founding of the Presidio of San Francisco and Mission San Francisco de Asís.
Thirty-six years after Congress acted, Los Altos Hills added its own short stretch. Its version follows roads residents already use. At the May 14, 2026 Council meeting, Pathways Committee chair Nick Erndt presented two ways to connect the Rhus Ridge Trailhead with the Pearson-Arastradero Preserve area. One went through town on Moody Road, Purissima Road and Arastradero Road, which the minutes describe as a "relatively flat and accessible route that highlighted community features." The other went around town on regional trails through the open space preserves to the west, which was more scenic and steeper.
The Council chose the route through town. Its version of a national trail is the pathway corridor its own residents already walk.
Three years to choose a road
That decision took longer than the walk itself would. The staff report sets out the steps:
- 2023. The Town begins working with the County of Santa Clara on an update to the Countywide Trails Master Plan, which included a possible Anza alignment through Los Altos Hills. The Council asks the Pathways Committee to recommend a route.
- November 2023. The committee proposes a route using existing pathways and trail easements. The Council approves the concept and orders public outreach.
- 2024. Notices go to owners and residents within 500 feet of the route. Comments raise concerns about parts of it, and the committee recommends keeping the route conceptual for now.
- December 2024. An ad hoc subcommittee forms to research where the expedition actually went and to draw up alternatives.
- May 14, 2026. Two options go to the Council, which leans toward the route through town but takes no vote.
- June 18, 2026. The Council unanimously picks that route, Option 1, as its preferred alignment.
Each pause in that list followed a round of neighbor feedback. The route the Council finally adopted is the one that changes the least for the people who live along it.
Why Rhus Ridge Road came off the map
One more change came in the last weeks before the vote, and the reason goes back half a century. After hearing notices went out on July 21, residents asked about the easements along the route. Staff found that the Town holds no trail easement on Rhus Ridge Road, which is private. When Tract Map No. 4169 was approved in 1971, the Town did not accept the equestrian easements offered along that road.
The revised map runs from the corner of Rhus Ridge Road and Moody Road west along Moody Road, where pathways, easements and public right-of-way already exist, and ends at the Town boundary. From there, the staff report notes, the route could continue on County roads toward Hidden Villa. A second round of notices went out on August 13 to everyone within 500 feet of the new route.
So the route shows exactly where the town's public pathway rights stop. The trail goes only where the public already has the right to walk.
What the Council actually approved
The August 20 minutes separate recognizing the route's history from promoting it. Several Council members and members of the public worried that regional or national promotion could bring visitors who don't know the Town's pathway system, along with privacy, parking, traffic, maintenance and neighborhood problems. Mayor Bhateja said he supported recognizing the route's history locally but had concerns about promoting it nationally. Commenters suggested small markers or badges on existing pathway posts in place of larger trail signs. The motion read:
"Mayor Bhateja moved to approve the local designation of the Juan Bautista de Anza Historic Trail, utilize as few wooden signs as necessary to identify the route, and identify the trail only on the Town's pathways map without pursuing broader promotion."
Council Member Tyson seconded. Mayor Bhateja, Vice Mayor Swan and Council Members Mok and Tyson voted yes, and Council Member Tankha was absent.
Signs are still to come. Before the vote, staff said they would work with the Pathways Committee on a signage plan. The motion caps that plan at the fewest wooden signs that will do the job, in keeping with the Town's existing pathway signs. The Pathways Committee's September 28 agenda listed a "De Anza Trail update" among its staff reports.
What the expedition actually saw nearby
Neither the Town nor the Park Service claims Moody Road follows the expedition's exact path. The documented history is close by. The National Park Service's Anza Trail trip guide lists Camp #93, San Joseph de Cupertino, as the expedition's Santa Clara County campsite on March 25. It names McClellan Ranch and Rancho San Antonio as places to take in the same Bay view the party saw.
Father Pedro Font kept the expedition's diary. His March 25, 1776 entry describes a full day through the Llano de los Robles, the plain of oaks, with "a great abundance of oaks, in some places more, in others less, some very large and others not so large." That night he wrote, "From the camp we already descried the estuary of the port and the island at its extremity." The next morning the party crossed the Arroyo de San Francisco on the way north, as recorded in the Web de Anza transcription of Font's diary.
The City of Cupertino's history page adds that Font named the stream now called Stevens Creek "Arroyo San Jose de Cupertino." Anyone walking the Moody Road corridor under oaks with the Bay in the distance is crossing the same kind of ground Font described, two and a half centuries later.
The same approach shows up in this fall's pathway work
The Anza vote stands out, but it fits a pattern. The Town's other pathway projects this fall also serve the people who use the network every day.
The Town's July 2026 Public Works update describes two new roadside segments, each about 1,300 feet long:
- Magdalena Road. This is a new connection on the south side of town and part of a planned set of "loop" routes that link pathway segments, starting with the Magdalena–Ravensbury Pathway Loop. The Council awarded it to Pacific Underground Construction, Inc. on June 18. Work was scheduled for August 5 through the end of September.
- Altamont Road, Phase 1. This segment runs from Corbetta Lane to the Altamont Plunge. Town maintenance crews are building it themselves, with completion targeted for the end of October, depending on staff availability.
At the August 20 meeting, the Public Works Director reported that Magdalena construction had started in early August and that maintenance staff had started on the new Altamont pathway.
The Altamont Plunge needs some background. On the Town's September 2019 list of possible pathway projects, it appears as a needed "safe descent to street level" from a roadside path and an off-road path from Vinedo Lane. The list warns of a "dangerous steep drop-off from connecting pathways to road" on a busy road where "cars and bikes are speeding downhill." Seven years later, a new segment reaches it.
Loops let someone start and finish at their own driveway. A fix at the Plunge matters to the people who already walk down Altamont.
Where to find it this season
- The route itself: Moody Road west from Rhus Ridge Road to the Town boundary, shown on the Town pathways map. County roads continue toward Hidden Villa.
- The wider corridor: the May options covered the stretch between the Rhus Ridge Trailhead and the Pearson-Arastradero Preserve area, using Moody, Purissima and Arastradero roads.
- Construction: Altamont Phase 1 was scheduled to finish by the end of October. The Town's Public Works updates have the current status before you walk the Corbetta Lane stretch.
- A reason to be at the barn: the Barn Lighting at Westwind Community Barn is Sunday, December 6, from 2 to 5 p.m. The Town calendar lists pony rides, a petting zoo, craft tables, a visit from Santa, and a countdown to the lighting at 5 p.m.
Properties along Moody Road and the Town's pathway corridors come with long and specific histories, and we enjoy working through them with the families who own them. If you'd like to talk about what the Anza designation or nearby pathway work means for your property, Buljan Group would welcome the chance to schedule a confidential consultation.