Monte Bello Open Space Preserve, Protected natural area in Santa Clara County and San Mateo County, California.

Monte Bello Open Space Preserve is a large protected area stretching across Santa Clara and San Mateo counties with rolling grasslands, creek forests, and mountain ridges. The landscape is shaped by the Stevens Creek Watershed and contains diverse habitats for wildlife and plants.

After nineteenth-century logging, Italian farmers and winemakers settled on Montebello Ridge, and dairies there supplied milk to San Francisco. George Morell, founding publisher of the Palo Alto Times, bought Black Mountain Ranch in 1940 and later donated former Johnson, Winship and Morell ranch land to Stanford University. The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District acquired the preserve from Stanford in 1975, evicting a commune of about 100 people called "The Land" that lived along the Canyon Trail.

The name "Monte Bello" is Italian for "beautiful mountain", given by the Italian farmers and winemakers who settled on Montebello Ridge after nineteenth-century logging. The Stevens Creek Nature Trail is a self-guided 3-mile loop with interpretive panels that descends into the forested canyon and returns through grassland.

Multiple entry points with parking along Page Mill Road provide access to hiking, biking, and horse riding trails. Conditions vary by season and weather, so visitors should be prepared for changing terrain and weather patterns.

Black Mountain Backpack Camp is located about 1.5 miles from Page Mill Road and allows multi-day experiences with a permit. The remote location gives visitors a chance to spend nights in nature and explore quieter corners of the preserve.