Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve, Nature preserve and wetland in Palo Alto, United States

Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve is a protected wetland along the edge of San Francisco Bay in Palo Alto, California. It is made up of salt marsh, freshwater ponds, and mudflats, all connected by flat trails that run close to the water.

In the late 1920s levees were built to reroute San Francisquito Creek from its old mouth, turning it north for about half a mile before it exits to the bay. Dredging of the former Yacht Club produced landfill used to fill marshland for Palo Alto Airport and the Municipal Golf Course, and by 2004 filled areas had cut tidal marsh to 352 acres. The Harriet Mundy Marsh was dedicated on October 23, 1982, after Mundy's petition led the City Council to reject a $30 million commercial and industrial development proposal.

The preserve's features carry local names: the Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center honors "Baylands Lucy," a Stanford graduate who taught for 23 years and campaigned to save the marsh; the Harriet Mundy Marsh, dedicated on October 23, 1982, recalls the resident whose petition led the City Council to reject a $30 million commercial and industrial development. The Emily Renzel Wetlands, completed in 1992 with a $1,000,000 California Coastal Conservancy grant, are named for a councilmember who worked over 20 years for the Baylands.

The trails are flat and well marked, which makes the area easy to navigate even for those who do not walk long distances. Weather along the bay can shift quickly, so bringing a layer is a good idea even on warm days.

The preserve's freshwater pond, completed in 1992 with a $1,000,000 California Coastal Conservancy grant, is fed by reclaimed water pumped from the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant. It is named for former councilmember Emily Renzel, honoured for over 20 years of work protecting the Baylands. The tidal gate also blocks steelhead trout from their historic spawning runs up Adobe and Matadero creeks.