Stanford University campus and the Bay visible from the rolling green hills of the Dish trail in spring

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Stanford Dish Trail: Cattle, a Wild Turkey, and a Very Large Radar

California·March 28, 2026·5 min read

A 3.7-mile loop through Stanford's open land — rolling green hills, a 150-foot radio telescope, a herd of black cattle, at least one wild turkey, and a view back down to campus that makes the whole thing feel cinematic.

Stanford's campus is beautiful, but the hills above it are something else. The Dish Trail is a 3.7-mile paved loop that climbs through the university's open land, named for the 150-foot radio telescope that sits in the middle of the hills and can be seen from the 101 on a clear day.

It is one of the better short hikes in the Peninsula. Free, well-maintained, and home to an improbable amount of wildlife for something that starts in a university parking lot.

About the Dish

The Stanford Radio Telescope — universally called "the Dish" — has been operating since 1966. It's 150 feet in diameter, weighs 340 tons, and is still used for active radio astronomy research. It moves. If you go on different days, it faces different directions depending on what's being observed.

The open land surrounding the telescope is owned by Stanford and managed as a nature preserve. The university leases the grazing rights to a cattle rancher, which is why there are black Angus cattle on the trail. Stanford has let the public hike the loop since the 1960s.

The trail

The loop starts from a trailhead off Campus Drive West and climbs steadily through open grassland. The path is wide and paved, which makes it popular with runners, cyclists, and hikers who showed up without thinking too hard about terrain.

The paved winding trail through rolling green hills, a few distant hikers visible along the ridge — Looking back down the main trail. Once you gain elevation, you get views on both sides of the ridge.

In March, the hills are very green. The grass is long and slightly wild-looking, with scattered oaks and patches of wildflowers. On a clear day the blue sky and the bright green hills make the whole thing look like a desktop background. In summer the same hills are golden-brown — California dry season — which has its own beauty.

A solitary gnarled oak tree on a green hillside, hazy hills and the Bay beyond — The oaks up here are old and contorted, shaped by decades of coastal wind. This one was particularly satisfying.

The animals

We were told to expect cows. We did not expect a wild turkey at close range, and we did not expect how much we would enjoy that.

A wild turkey foraging in tall grass beside a wooden fence, completely unaware of being photographed — Wild turkey, fully unbothered. Turkeys were reintroduced to the Bay Area in the 1980s and have been thriving ever since.

The cattle are the trail's most permanent residents. Stanford leases the land inside the loop to a cattle rancher, and the result is a somewhat surreal scene: you're hiking above one of the most expensive zip codes in the country, and there are dozens of black Angus cows grazing in the shadow of a Cold War-era radio telescope.

A large herd of black cattle grazing on vivid green hills, the Stanford Dish radio telescope visible on the ridge to the right — The cattle herd, with the Dish behind them. They have right of way on the trail.

The cattle don't move for hikers. You walk past them, they chew, everyone continues with their day.

The Dish and the view of campus

The Stanford Dish radio telescope across a wide green valley, surrounded by rolling hills and fencing — The Dish from across the valley. You can't get close — the surrounding area is fenced off — but you see it from almost every point on the loop.

The best thing about the trail isn't the telescope. It's the view looking back down at the campus. From the higher sections of the loop, the characteristic red tile roofs and sandstone colonnades of Stanford's Main Quad are clearly visible below, with the Bay and Mount Hamilton in the distance.

Stanford University campus spread below the Dish trail hills in spring, Hoover Tower visible, the Bay and mountains beyond — Looking down at campus. That's Hoover Tower in the center — 285 feet tall, visible from the trail and the freeway both.

It's a strange feeling — looking down at something you think you know from a completely different angle. The campus looks smaller from up here. The Bay looks larger.

Tips

Trailhead is at 250 Stadium Drive, off Campus Drive West. Free parking in the adjacent lot — check Stanford's parking portal for any day/time restrictions, especially on game days.
Hours are 6am to dusk. The gates close at sunset and they mean it.
Paved trail = shared trail. Runners and road cyclists use this path heavily on weekend mornings. Stay to the right.
Dogs are not allowed. This is the rule most people discover after arriving.
No water on trail once you pass the gate. Bring your own.
March and April are peak. The grass is greenest, wildflowers are out, and you're likely to see the most wildlife. Summer is fine but dry.
It's not particularly strenuous — about 400 feet of total elevation gain — but the sun exposure on the upper sections is real. Hat and sunscreen in warm months.

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