Published January 11, 2026
Midpen’s Monte Bello and Los Trancos open space preserves border the steep and twisty Page Mill Road that is also a designated emergency escape route. Midpen staff and contractors have been hard at work on a Midpen Wildland Fire Resiliency Program project in these preserves along the roadway since July to maintain and improve a shaded fuel break.
This work, which included thinning dense brush and removing low tree limbs across 27 acres of roadside open space in an ecologically sensitive way, was completed in December and serves to slow and stop potential fires and help keep the rural roadway safely accessible. Similar work occurred in the City of Palo Alto’s adjacent Foothills Park along Page Mill Road.