Peers Park

Peers Park is a neighborhood park that punches above its size. At 4.7 acres it is small next to Mitchell or Greer, yet it has the largest dog run in Palo Alto, two children's play structures, tennis courts, a little field house that families rent for birthdays and a grove of redwoods with an unusual story. It sits on Park Boulevard in the Evergreen Park neighborhood, a short walk from California Avenue.

The city's official name is Alexander Peers Park. Most people just say Peers. This guide covers what is in the park, the history behind the name and the trees, recent work along its edge and the easiest ways to get there.

Peers Park at a glance

The city's park page tags Peers as a park with athletic fields and lists these features:

• Playgrounds. The field house page describes two children's play structures.
• Tennis courts and basketball courts.
• Soccer fields, which in practice means a large grassy area used for play and practice.
• Picnic tables.
• Restrooms.

Add to that the fenced dog park and the field house, which appear on separate city pages. The park is open from sunrise to sunset. The dog run keeps its own hours, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The dog park

For many visitors Peers means one thing: the dog park. The city built it in 2018 and calls it both the newest and the largest of its four dog parks, at 0.84 acre. The others are at Mitchell, Hoover and Greer parks. Peers has a large open area, a long ball retrieval strip that suits dogs who live to fetch and a separate small dog area. The surface is wood mulch. The city lists Adirondack chairs, a water hose bib, a trash can and plenty of shade.

The standard city rules apply. Dogs must be licensed and vaccinated and wear a collar with ID and a license tag. One person can bring no more than three dogs. Owners stay inside the fence and pick up after their dogs. Small dog areas are meant for dogs of 25 pounds or less. Outside the fence, every dog in the park must be on a leash.

The run is busiest early in the morning and after work. Our dog parks guide compares all four city runs and lists dog-friendly trails nearby.

Alexander Peers and Mayfield

Peers Park sits on ground that belonged to Mayfield, the town that existed south of Palo Alto until Palo Alto annexed it in 1925. Its namesake was one of Mayfield's leading citizens. According to the city, Alexander Peers lived in Mayfield for 59 years. He came to California from England by way of Canada. With William Page he started the Page and Peers Lumber Company, which cut timber in the foothills. Page Mill Road was built to haul logs from their mill down to Mayfield. The road still carries Page's name.

Peers was more than a lumberman. He served on Mayfield's first Board of Trustees and was the first president of the Mayfield Bank. Our history of Mayfield, Palo Alto's rival town covers the saloons, the railroad and the merger that followed.

The Challenger Memorial Grove

Walk behind the tennis courts and you reach the most surprising feature in the park. A group of redwoods grows there from seeds of El Palo Alto, the ancient redwood by San Francisquito Creek that gave the city its name. Before they were planted, the city says, those seeds orbited the Earth in 1985 aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-51F.

A plaque names the spot the Challenger Memorial Grove. The name recalls the loss of the shuttle and its crew in January 1986, a few months after the seeds came home. Today the trees give the back of the park deep shade and make a quiet place to sit while the tennis players and dogs carry on nearby.

The field house

The city's field house rentals cover just two buildings: this one and the clubhouse at the Lawn Bowling Green on Embarcadero Road. The Peers Park Field House measures 17 by 25 feet and overlooks the park. Palo Alto residents can rent it for birthday parties and picnics on weekends from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at a flat day rate. Maximum occupancy is 25 people. A weekday preschool class uses the building, which is why rentals are weekend only.

The city posts its rates, deposit and key pickup rules on the field house page. A few points trip people up:

1. No date is held until you submit an application, by email or at the Lucie Stern Community Center.
2. Keys are picked up at Lucie Stern on the Thursday before your event. They are not available on weekends.
3. Renting the field house does not reserve the park's picnic tables. The city takes picnic reservations only at Mitchell and Rinconada parks.
4. From August 17, 2026 the city adds a 2.75% fee to card payments. Cash and checks avoid it.

Closures and recent work

As of October 30, 2026 the city's Peers Park page shows no current closure. The most recent notice dates from August 9, 2025, when the dog park closed for a day so crews could remove five or six hazardous eucalyptus trees from the Caltrain right of way along the park's edge. That kind of work can recur, since the tracks run right behind the park. If a closure is scheduled, the city posts it on its Peers Park page.

Getting there by bike and transit

Peers is one of the best connected parks in the city. The California Avenue Caltrain station is about a third of a mile away. From the station, walk south along Park Boulevard.

VTA Rapid 522 stops on El Camino Real at California Avenue, a few blocks west. Route 22 runs along El Camino Real too. Both connect to the Palo Alto Transit Center and to Mountain View and San Jose to the south.

By bike, Park Boulevard is a quiet street that runs parallel to the tracks. The city has named Park Boulevard, Stanford Avenue and Wilkie Way as future bicycle boulevard corridors in Phase 2 of its neighborhood program, which is on hold. Even without the upgrades, it is a calm route north toward California Avenue. The underpass at California Avenue station links the Evergreen Park side of the tracks with Alma Street and the Bryant Street bike boulevard to the east.

Parking around the park is on the street. Evergreen Park has a residential parking permit program, so check the signs for time limits before you leave the car.

What is nearby

Peers is the neighborhood park of Evergreen Park, a grid of older homes and apartments between El Camino Real and the tracks. The neighborhood association holds its annual barbecue here. Residents of Southgate, just to the north, use it too.

• California Avenue: the restaurants and cafes of the California Avenue district are a few minutes' walk away.
• Sunday market: the California Avenue farmers market runs every Sunday all year, so a morning of market shopping and a dog park visit fit together well.
• Other parks: Bowden Park, two acres of lawn and trees at 2380 High Street, is another small city park close to the California Avenue station.

A good morning plan: train to California Avenue, coffee on California Avenue, an hour at the dog park or the playground and lunch back on the avenue. You never need a car.

Frequently asked questions