Eleanor Pardee Park

Eleanor Pardee Park feels bigger than most Palo Alto neighborhood parks, because it is. The city lists it at 9.6 acres, second only to Bol Park among its neighborhood parks. The southern half is a wide sweep of level and gently mounded lawn with playgrounds and picnic tables. The northern half is mostly community garden, rows of raised beds where residents grow vegetables and flowers all year.

The park sits at 851 Center Drive, at the corner of Center Drive and Channing Avenue in north Palo Alto. Families from Crescent Park and Duveneck/St. Francis use it as their main outdoor space. This guide covers its features, the story behind its name, the restroom project now under way and how to reach it.

Eleanor Pardee Park at a glance

The city tags Pardee as a park with community gardens and athletic fields. Its feature list:

• Playgrounds.
• Soccer fields, which here means the big open lawn used for practices and pickup games.
• Picnic tables and barbecue grills.
• Drinking fountains.
• Walking and bicycle trails through the park.
• Wheelchair access.
• Community garden plots.

The park is open from sunrise to sunset. There is no fee. The one feature it has long lacked is a permanent restroom, which the city is now working to add.

A mother's gift

The city's park history tells a sad story in a few lines. Eleanor Pardee died of typhoid fever in 1896 at age 15. In 1920 her mother, Emily Eliot Pardee Karns Dixon, deeded the family's 10-acre property, house included, to the City of Palo Alto. She also gave the city real estate in San Francisco. The income from that property was meant to pay for turning the land into a park, which she wanted named Eleanora Parque in her daughter's memory.

Turning the gift into a park took decades. The city developed the southern half of the property in 1957, the same decade it opened many of its neighborhood parks. The old house had fallen into poor shape by then and was razed in the early 1970s. In the early 1980s most of the remaining five acres became community gardens. The Spanish name did not last. The city calls it Eleanor Pardee Park and the garden is simply known as Eleanor.

The park is one of several Palo Alto green spaces that began as private gifts. That pattern shows up again at Gamble Garden on Waverley Street. Our page on historic landmarks of Palo Alto covers more of the city's early civic life.

Lawns, playgrounds and picnics

The developed half is the part most visitors see. The lawn is large and open enough for a soccer practice, a kite or a game of tag with a dozen kids. Mounds break up the flat ground and give small children something to roll down. Big trees around the edges give shade to the picnic tables.

The playgrounds and picnic areas sit in the developed half. Barbecue grills make the park a common choice for neighborhood birthday parties and casual family gatherings. Note that the city takes group picnic reservations only at Mitchell, Rinconada and Foothills, so tables here are first come, first served. On a sunny weekend, arrive early if you need a table.

Pardee is also one of the parks the city tags for wheelchair access. That tag covers paths and facilities rather than every piece of play equipment. Our playgrounds guide compares its play area with others across town.

The Eleanor community garden

The northern half of the park holds one of the city's five community gardens, known simply as Eleanor. The others are Johnson, Rinconada, Ventura and Arastradero. Plots go to Palo Alto residents 18 and older and run from January 1 to December 31, with renewals. Waiting lists are normal. Gardeners must keep their plots worked and follow the city's garden guidelines. The garden is open daily from sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset.

Even if you do not garden, a walk along the fence is a pleasure from spring into fall. Our community gardens guide covers how to apply and what the rules require.

The restroom project

The project grew out of a citywide effort. In 2017 the city set up a capital project that funds new park restrooms every other year, aimed at heavily used parks where people stay for hours. Pardee qualified easily. In an online survey in February 2025, 1,171 people responded. The city reports that 82% supported a restroom and 18% opposed it. Among residents alone, 75% supported it.

For updates, follow the city's community restroom facilities page. Until a permanent building opens, the portable units are the only option on site.

Getting there by bike and transit

Pardee is in a quiet residential part of north Palo Alto, so a bike is the most practical way in. From downtown, ride south on Bryant Street, the Ellen Fletcher Bicycle Boulevard, then turn east on Channing Avenue toward Center Drive. The whole trip is under two miles on low-traffic streets. Our guide to Palo Alto bike boulevards shows the wider network.

Transit is limited. VTA Route 21 runs along Middlefield Road, with stops near the Lucie Stern Community Center, about half a mile west of the park. The nearest Caltrain stations, Palo Alto and California Avenue, are each roughly a mile and a half away in a straight line.

By car, park on the surrounding residential streets. The city runs a Crescent Park residential parking permit program, so read the posted signs before you leave the car.

What is nearby

The park sits where two neighborhoods meet. Crescent Park, with its curving streets and large lots along San Francisquito Creek, lies to the north. Duveneck/St. Francis and its Green Gables Eichler tract lie to the east toward Highway 101.

• Rinconada Park: less than half a mile southwest, with the public pool, the Magic Forest redwood grove and the Junior Museum and Zoo next door. See our Rinconada Park guide.
• Edgewood Plaza: the Eichler-built shopping center at Embarcadero Road and St. Francis Drive has a grocery, The Market at Edgewood, for picnic supplies.
• The Baylands: follow Embarcadero Road east across Highway 101 to the marsh trails.

Pardee works best as a slow park. Bring a picnic, let the children run the lawn and take a lap past the garden beds before you leave.

Frequently asked questions