Portola Valley is a small town in San Mateo County, California, set in the wooded hills of the San Francisco Peninsula west of Stanford University. With roughly 4,400 residents, it is one of the region's most deliberately low-density communities, incorporated in 1964 with an explicit mission to protect its rural character and open space. The area's history predates the town by centuries. The Ohlone people lived in the valley before the arrival of Spanish settlers, and the town takes its name from Gaspar de Portolá, the Spanish explorer who led the first European party up the San Francisco Peninsula in 1769. Through the 19th century the land was used for logging and cattle ranching, and it remained lightly developed well into the 20th century. That pastoral legacy is now central to Portola Valley's identity. Since incorporation, the town has pursued a steady program of open-space acquisition, beginning with Dorothy Ford Park in 1970 and expanding through preserves such as Windy Hill and Spring Down. The result is a community with nearly as many miles of trails as roads, where ridgeline views, oak woodlands, and creeks frame daily life. The town's housing is overwhelmingly single-family, with zoning that prohibits multifamily dwellings, preserving large, wooded lots and a low-density streetscape. Students attend the highly regarded Portola Valley School District for grades TK through 8, then typically continue to the Sequoia Union High School District or nearby independent schools. With Interstate 280 and Sand Hill Road nearby, Portola Valley offers a distinctly rural, nature-centered way of life minutes from Stanford and the Silicon Valley economy.