62. Cooley Landing Park to Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center

https://youtu.be/zKL4SfkvDGc

 

Cooley Landing Park to Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center Trail is at the end of the Stevens Creek Trail in Mountain View, to reach the Bay Trail and mostly following it through Shoreline at Mountain View Park, the Palo Alto Baylands, and Ravenswood Open Space Preserve to my ultimate destination: Cooley Landing in East Palo Alto. Cooley Landing is a 9-acre peninsula, named after Lester Cooley, who purchased the land in 1868. It later became a county dump. Landfill from the dump created the peninsula that forms the landing, but it also resulted in toxic materials in the soil. The land was bought in 1960 by Carl Schoof, who operated the Palo Alto Boat works on the peninsula until he sold it to the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) in 1998. In 2006, POST transferred the land to the City of East Palo Alto. Cooley Landing is surrounded by public land. South is Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. North is Ravenswood Open Space Preserve, owned by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD). The parking lot for Ravenswood OSP is next to Cooley Landing. However, for years, Cooley Landing itself was closed off and inaccessible to the public because it was not safe due to toxic waste residues. The City of East Palo Alto, which had only 16 acres parkland, had long been interested in turning Cooley Landing into a park. In 2003, the city hired a design consultant and started a series of community workshops on the designs for Cooley Landing. Finally, in December of 2011, the City of East Palo Alto and the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District embarked on a cleanup and restoration effort as part of a multi-phase plan to turn the site into a nature park. The first phase involved environmental cleanup, trail access, road improvements, parking, benches, walkways, and a picnic area. It was open to the public on July 21, 2012. Further construction is planned for the next 2-3 years to add interpretive and recreational elements. See the links on Cooley Landing for more information.

The Baylands Nature Interpretive Center and Preserve, located at 2775 Embarcadero Road provides a unique opportunity to view a pristine salt marsh habitat and serves approximately 130 classes and camps, 3,000 elementary students and 80,000 visitors annually. The Boardwalk is part of the Baylands Nature Interpretive Center. Three Capital Improvement Program projects were approved by Council to address improvements to this site: Baylands Boardwalk Improvements (PE-14018), Baylands Nature Interpretive Center Facility Improvements (PE-15029) (completed in April 2017), and Baylands Nature Interpretive Center Exhibit Improvements (AC-14001).

The City of Palo Alto is partnering with numerous environmental and community organizations to create an educational experience for visitors along the trail that runs from the boat dock in the Palo Alto Baylands, through the boardwalk at the Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center, all the way to Cooley Landing in East Palo Alto. Inclusive of signs and interactive exhibits, this Friendship Trail experience is being designed to encourage visitors to observe with all of their senses the flora, fauna and ecology of the Baylands Salt Marsh environment and notice and appreciate the special features of this preserve that make it so special and important to the wider community. The Friendship Trail is expected to be completed by the fall of 2021.

The project includes the replacement of worn or non-functioning exterior exhibits, signage, and graphics. With over 130 classes and 80,000 visitors, improvements should increase visibility and usefulness.

Eight interpretive stations have been constructed on the deck of the Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center. Each station was located adjacent to features of the building, special views of the marsh, or important phenomena. In three of these stations, glass-viewing windows were installed to improve the visibility of the mash from the railings. Each station was constructed to fasten exhibit graphics to the railing for easy reading but with a low profile so that these signs do not block the view.

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