Bowden Park

Bowden Park is the green rectangle you glimpse from the train as it slows into California Avenue. It is small, 2.0 acres by the city's count, but it was designed with more care than most parks its size. In 1960 the landscape architect Robert Royston turned a plain lawn into a modernist stroll garden meant for commuters walking home and families meeting them at the station.

The address is 2380 High Street, on the Old Palo Alto side of the tracks. Federal place-name and map records call it Jerry Bowden Park. This guide covers what is in the park, the design history, the art you can see from the platform and how Bowden fits into a walk between Old Palo Alto and California Avenue.

Bowden Park at a glance

The city describes a "2.0 acre neighborhood park" with an "open grassy area surrounded by deciduous and evergreen trees" and benches framed by U-shaped areas of pruned boxwood. Its feature list names picnic tables, drinking fountains, wheelchair access, walking trails and playgrounds.

• Garden: a central lawn framed by paths, hedges, trees and ornamental planting.
• Play: a small playground, which older city listings describe as a toddler area with two climbing structures.
• Seating: benches along the paths and picnic tables.
• Water: drinking fountains, listed by the city.
• Art: Marta Thoma's 2006 running figures, Rrrun.
• Access: the city lists wheelchair access on paths and facilities.
• Restrooms: the city's page lists no restroom. Caltrain does not list one at California Avenue station either.

There is no fee. There are no sports courts or fields, which keeps the park quiet. It is a place to sit, read, let a small child climb or wait for a train.

A Royston garden from 1960

The Cultural Landscape Foundation, a nonprofit that documents designed landscapes, tells the story of the park's design. The first version, built in 1952, was a lawn and a playground. By the end of the decade some residents wanted to pave it for station parking. The city hired Robert Royston instead. Royston, a leading figure in postwar California landscape design, had already designed Mitchell Park for Palo Alto in 1956.

His 1960 plan turned the site into a rectangular stroll garden tied to the station by a pedestrian tunnel. The foundation describes:

• Strong axial symmetry and gentle changes in grade.
• Colorful geometric furnishings and fencing.
• Painted wooden benches along the paths, set into trimmed boxwood hedges for privacy.
• Trees placed for shade and to screen traffic.
• Heavier ornamental planting than was usual in Royston's parks.
• A rustic log shelter at the northwest entrance, with concrete tables and seats made from recycled capped sewer pipes.

Six decades of maintenance and replacement have changed details, so do not expect every original element to survive. The bones are still readable: the long axis, the lawn at the center and the hedged edges. For the wider context, see our guide to mid-century modern architecture in Palo Alto.

One size note. The city's park page gives 2.0 acres. The foundation's page says three. We use the city figure.

The park and the station

Royston's idea was a park that worked with the railroad rather than turning its back on it. That still holds. The California Avenue Caltrain station sits just across the tracks. Today's pedestrian underpass, which the city's bike map labels the Cal Ave Tunnel, dates from Caltrain's 2008 rebuild of the station, when two side platforms replaced a single center platform.

The underpass is the key to using the park. It links High Street and Alma Street on the east side with California Avenue and Park Boulevard on the west, so you never cross the tracks at grade. Caltrain lists 33 bike racks and BikeLink eLockers at the station. The station also has no restroom, which matters if you are meeting a train with small children.

Caltrain's blog has pointed riders to Rrrun, Marta Thoma's 2006 sculpture of running figures at the park, which can be seen from passing trains. Look for it on the east side as your train pulls in. Our guide to public art in Palo Alto covers more of the city's collection.

The blocks around the park

Bowden sits at the southern tip of Old Palo Alto, where the big lots and Birge Clark houses farther north give way to smaller homes. Our walking tour notes that the blocks around Byron, Webster, Santa Rita and North California Avenue, known as the Emery Subdivision, filled in during the 1930s and 1940s. The lots are smaller and the setbacks more uniform than in the older blocks near Embarcadero Road.

The station across the tracks is older than the city itself. Trains have stopped here since the 1860s, when the stop served the town of Mayfield. It kept the Mayfield name until 1941, when it took the name of California Avenue. Mayfield joined Palo Alto in 1925. Our history of Mayfield, Palo Alto's rival town explains how the south end of the city came together.

Oregon Expressway runs a short distance south of the park. It carries heavy traffic, so the walk to Midtown is better done along Alma Street or by bike on the quiet streets toward Bryant Street.

Tips for a visit

Bowden is at its best on a weekday late afternoon, when commuters cut through on their way home and the light comes in low across the lawn. Weekend mornings are quiet. The playground is small, so it suits toddlers and preschoolers more than older kids, who will find more to do at Peers or Mitchell parks.

Parking is on the surrounding residential streets. Train riders have it easier: step off at California Avenue, walk through the underpass and you are there in a couple of minutes. Bring a picnic from one of the California Avenue cafes. The city lists drinking fountains here.

Hours and rules

Posted hours on the city's page are sunrise to sunset. The municipal code sets a 10:30 p.m. closing for city parks. Dogs must be on a leash, drones are banned and feeding wildlife is not allowed. Commuters cutting through after dark should use the station underpass and lit streets rather than the park paths. Check the city's Bowden Park page for closures, including the playground maintenance closure from November 10 to 17, 2026.

Bowden on a walk

Bowden is the last stop on our Old Palo Alto walking tour, which starts at Gamble Garden on Embarcadero Road and finishes at the station after about 2.5 miles. A shorter version for a weekend morning:

1. Take the train to California Avenue, or park on the west side.
2. Walk through the underpass to Bowden Park and let the kids play.
3. Return through the tunnel to the California Avenue district for lunch.
4. On Sundays, browse the year-round farmers market on California Avenue.

Nearby parks and food

For a meal, California Avenue is the closest choice by far. Our guide to where to eat near California Avenue lists cafes and restaurants within a few minutes of the station.

Frequently asked questions