Nature, hiking trails, bike paths, and horseback riding. Hard to believe that this serene city is located in the Silicon Valley. Portola Valley is a serene and naturally beautiful city located to the West of Menlo Park and Highway 280. While offering easy access to the venture capital community on Sandhill and Page Mill Roads, this city helps residents get away from the hustle and bustle of the Silicon Valley suburbs. The local topography of rolling hills offers many residences phenomenal views of the San Francisco Bay and the Stanford Dish, a popular hiking trail.

Every day you will find bicyclists (and some horseback riders) traveling down Alpine Road on their way to the great beyond. There is a small shopping center with a gourmet grocery store, a few restaurants, a bank and a gas station so that residents don’t need to drive into Menlo Park or Palo Alto for everything. Regarding the school system, the majority of Portola Valley feeds into the local school district which is comprised of Ormandale (K- 3rd grade) and Corte Madera school (4th – 8th grade). However, a small pocket of Portola Valley in the community called Ladera is districted for the Menlo Park school district. Both school districts have highly ranked API scores.