20 Attractions to Explore Near San Mateo County History Museum

The Hiller Aviation Museum is an aircraft history museum founded by Stanley Hiller in June 1998. It specializes in Northern California aircraft history and helicopter history. The museum is also an affiliate within the Smithsonian Affiliations program. This museum has more than 50 aerospace vehicles along with companion descriptive displays concerning the history of flight.

Bair Island is a swampland spread over 3,000 acres in Redwood City. It is part of the larger Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It is surrounded by the Steinberger slough to the northwest and Redwood Creek to the southeast. It is an important ecological wetland, which provides critical habitat for a variety of species, including the endangered California clapper rail and the Salt marsh harvest mouse, and is an important stop for birds on the Pacific Flyway.

Edgewood County Park and Natural Preserve near Redwood City has miles of trails, shady picnic areas and some of the Bay Area’s most spectacular displays of spring wildflowers, native grasslands, and oak woodlands. It has 160 acres of serpentine soil which are known for having high proportions of native plant species including rare and locally endemic species.

This is a 366-acre public recreation area, near the City of San Carlos with trails for hiking and walking one's dog, including an off-leash area. The preserve's six miles of trails offers access to cool canyons and a ridge top with views toward the bay and surrounding hillsides.

Filoli is a country house set in 16 acres. It was built for Mr. and Mrs. William Bowers Bourn II. Now owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which is open to the public now.

A majestic forest park set over 900 acres of coastal mountain environment with numerous trails running along cool gulches and over unique hillside habitats. It has barbecue pits, a playground, grassy meadows, and hiking and riding trails, Huddart Park makes a great place to have a picnic or explore a redwood forest.

This is a small botanical garden specializing in cactus and succulents. It is located on the campus of Stanford University.

Pulgas Water Temple is a beautiful monument complete with a reflection pool lined with cypress trees and meadows of grass. it was designed in the Beaux Arts style by William Merchant, a San Francisco architect trained by Bernard Maybeck. The water temple was originally built in 1934 (and revamped in 1938) as part of a massive project to bring water to San Francisco by damming up the Hetch Hetchy valley, 160 miles away in the Sierras.

The Museum of American Heritage is a museum in Palo Alto, California. It is dedicated to the preservation and display of electrical and mechanical technology and inventions from the 1750s through the 1950s. The museum has a large collection of artifacts that are generally not accessible to the public. Selections from the collection are displayed in a historic house at 351 Homer Ave, Palo Alto, California. MOAH is a 501 non profit organization and a member of the American Alliance of Museums.

Art museum on the campus of Stanford University. The museum first opened in 1894 and now consists of over 130,000 square feet of exhibition space, including sculpture gardens. The museum is open to the public and charges no admission.

This is a private museum where the company Hewlett-Packard was founded. It is located at 367 Addison Avenue in Palo Alto, California. It is considered to be the "Birthplace of Silicon Valley". In the 1930s, Stanford University and its Dean of Engineering Frederick Terman began encouraging faculty and graduates to stay in the area instead of leaving California, and develop a high-tech region.

Located on the Main Quad at the center of the Stanford University campus, it was built during the American Renaissance by Jane Stanford as a memorial to her husband Leland. The church has been called "the University's architectural crown jewel". The church's chaplains were instrumental in the founding of Stanford's religious studies department.

Leo J. Ryan Memorial Park offers 20 acres of lawn areas, lagoon access, a gazebo on the lagoon, and restroom facilities. The park is situated on 20 acres which overlook Foster City's lagoon. The park houses the William E. Walker Recreation Center, and includes a waterfront, outdoor amphitheatre, sailboat tie-up facilities, boardwalk, lawn areas, and a gazebo on the lake.

This 1,084-acre park on the San Francisco Peninsula anchors the southern terminus of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and lies between Huddart County Park and the historical Filoli mansion.This area was once a portion of Rancho Cañada de Raymundo which was aggressively logged during the nineteenth century. After entering the estate from Cañada and Edgewood Roads, Phleger Road immediately crosses the south fork of Laguna Creek which flows north to Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir.

This is the former home and garden of Elizabeth Gamble. The house is in a colonial style and the garden retains an Arts and Crafts character. The original garden design was by Alan Reid. It is filled with flowers. Magnificent magnolias and a wonderful collection of hellebores. It is an oasis of beauty and tranquility, providing a community resource for horticultural education, inspiration, and enjoyment.

Wunderlich Park is about 900 mountainous acres of redwood forest, oak and madrone woodlands, and hillside meadows and savannas. Much of the park is well-shaded, so it's a good choice on a hot day. With a private stable on site, the trails can be busy with equestrians, but usually only on weekends. The park contains about 15 miles of developed trails. The trails are mainly fire roads, with the exception of the Bear Gulch Trail and Redwood Trail.

This is the place to discover art. See, make, and be inspired because everyone is an artist. The Palo Alto Art Center provides an accessible and welcoming place to engage with art. A multi-purpose center open to the public for art activities for all ages, located at 1313 Newell Road in Palo Alto. It has art classes for both adults and children, workshops, summer camps, and drop-in programs that take place in the Center's studios and classrooms.

This beautiful park, which is adjacent to Sugarloaf Mountain, has serene walking areas and a playground as well as trails leading into Sugarloaf Mountain.The park was acquired in 1923. The wedge-shaped park underwent a major renovation in 2021.

Stanford Dish, is a radio antenna in the Stanford foothills. The 150-foot-diameter dish was built in 1961 by the Stanford Research Institute. The dish is still actively used today for academic and research purposes. The area around the Dish offers a popular 3.5 mile recreational trail. This is a popular local hiking trail, with view of 280 and Stanford. There are a few trails but the main one is 3.56 miles

Also known as simply the Hanna House, located on the Stanford University campus. It was Frank Lloyd Wright's first work in the Bay Area and his first work with non-rectangular structures. The house was chosen by the American Institute of Architects as one of seventeen buildings by the architect to be retained as an example of his contribution to American culture. The house is one-story high with a central clerestory (an outside wall of a room