10% of Mountain View’s land is conserved, and 99% of residents live within a half mile of a park
17 miles of mapped trail cross Mountain View, 1.4 per square mile of land. 10% of Mountain View’s land is conserved, about 735 acres. The biggest trail networks: Shoreline Park (2.3 mi), Vista Slope (2.1 mi), Cuesta Park (2.1 mi).
Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns · #222 of 847 in California. What drives it
Conserved land
10%
735 acres · of 12.0 sq mi of land
Trails
17 mi
1.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
800 ac
9.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
94 mi
58 mi lanes · 25 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
2 beaches · 1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Mountain View?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mountain View is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #222 of 847 in California. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Mountain View’s overall grade.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
10% of Mountain View’s land. Who manages Mountain View’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city704 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service65 ac
Regional agency3 ac
Local Park · 388 acLocal Other or Unknown · 287 acNational Wildlife Refuge · 65 acLocal Conservation Area · 24 acLocal Recreation Area · 7 ac
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)
Managed by
Acres
Public access
Shoreline Golf Links
Local Other or Unknown
Town or city
287
Restricted
Shoreline at Mountain View Park
Local Park
Town or city
247
Open
Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuge
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
65
Restricted
Cuesta Park
Local Park
Town or city
26
Open
Rengstorff Park
Local Park
Town or city
23
Open
Baylands Preserve
Local Conservation Area
Town or city
21
Open
Whisman School Park
Local Park
Town or city
12
Restricted
Cuesta Annex
Local Park
Town or city
12
Open
Sylvan Park
Local Park
Town or city
9
Open
Landels School Park
Local Park
Town or city
8
Restricted
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
110 places to go in Mountain View
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Mountain View
2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
58 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
25 mi
off-road bike paths
11 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
San Francisco Bay TrailBike route
1 mi
Courts & fields
66Basketball
57Tennis
23Baseball
19Soccer
11Beach volleyball
5Volleyball
4Football
4Tracks
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 7 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
The best walking months in Mountain View: April to August
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Daylight (h)
9.8
10.8
11.9
13.1
14.2
14.7
14.5
13.6
12.4
11.2
10.1
9.6
High (°F)
60
63
66
69
73
78
79
79
79
75
66
59
Rain (in)
3.7
3.7
2.8
1.3
0.6
0.1
0.0
0.0
0.1
0.8
1.8
3.6
July is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and August the warmest (highs of 79 °F). 3.7 inches fall in February, the wettest month. The climate in Mountain View →
Next door
Mountain View and its neighbors
Mountain View has the second most mapped trails of the 4 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Mountain View
Where can I hike in Mountain View?
The longest trail networks: Shoreline Park, 2.3 miles; Vista Slope, 2.1 miles; Cuesta Park, 2.1 miles; Crittenden Hill, 1.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Mountain View is conserved land?
10% of its land, against a typical 4% for a California town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Mountain View’s trails?
OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at Pyramid Park. For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Mountain View?
94 miles of bike routes are on the map: 58 of painted or protected lanes, 25 of off-road paths and 11 of shoulders and shared lanes. Named routes: San Francisco Bay Trail.
Is there public land near Mountain View?
41,248 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mountain View or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 800 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Mountain View have?
Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #222 of 847 in California. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Mountain View neighbors.
Photo: Dicklyon · CC BY-SA 4.0