Los Altos Hills has no main street, so its autumn comes in as a set of appointments. Between now and late November, the town's shared calendar runs through three places: Hidden Villa's farm on Moody Road, the parking lots at Foothill College and Town Hall. Nearly every date on it has a condition attached. One needs a postcard that came in the mail. Some need advance registration. One needs at least four other people to sign up with you. Most of this season has to be booked ahead of time.
What each date asks of you
| Date | What | Where | To get in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Clean Up Day | Foothill College, Lot 6 | The original mailed notice. Los Altos Hills residents only |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Archery, Halloween Edition | Hidden Villa | $35, register in advance, nonrefundable, ages 8 and up |
| Sun., Nov. 8 | Weekend Farm Tour | Hidden Villa | $18, register in advance, five-person minimum |
| Mon., Nov. 9 | Garden Volunteer Day | Hidden Villa | Free, three hours |
| Sat., Nov. 14 | Hoshigaki Workshop | Hidden Villa | $20, register in advance, ages 12 and up |
| Sun., Nov. 15 | Behind-the-Scenes with the Farmer, then a Weekend Farm Tour | Hidden Villa | $35 and $18, both require advance registration |
| Sat., Nov. 21 | Brush and yard-trimmings drop-off, plus a Weekend Farm Tour | Foothill College, Lot 1, and Hidden Villa | Free drop-off. Tour is $18 with registration |
The table makes the pattern plain. Almost nothing here works on a whim.
Saturday's haul starts with a piece of mail
Next on the calendar is the Town of Los Altos Hills Clean Up Day this Saturday, Oct. 24. It runs 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Lot 6 at Foothill College, 12345 El Monte Road, and the Town hosts it with GreenWaste Recovery. The accepted list is long. It covers furniture, appliances, yard trimmings, electronic waste, scrap metal and some construction debris. Household hazardous waste, tires, liquids and treated wood are turned away.
The rule that matters most is in bold on the Town's listing: residents have to bring their original mailed notice, and the event is open only to Los Altos Hills residents. A loaded truck can't stand in for the postcard, so finding it on the counter belongs on Friday's list next to clearing the garage. If you're unsure whether something will be accepted, the listing points to the event postcard or to GreenWaste Recovery at (650) 947-4994.
Hidden Villa's dates don't need anything from the mailbox, but almost all of them need a registration first.
Hidden Villa runs by reservation
Over the next five weeks, the farm on Moody Road carries most of the town's shared calendar, and each program sets its own terms.
Halloween falls on a Saturday this year. Hidden Villa marks it with Archery: Halloween Edition, a one-hour class with an instructor at 11 a.m. or 1 p.m. It's $35 per person, open to ages 8 and up, with equipment supplied and costumes encouraged. Minors need an adult with them. Registration must be made in advance and can't be refunded. A nonrefundable fee turns a passing idea into a commitment, so it's worth looking at the family's Oct. 31 schedule before you book.
The Weekend Farm Tour runs Nov. 8, 15 and 21. It lasts an hour and a half, costs $18 per person, and visits the farm animals and the organic garden. It also needs at least five people. That minimum explains why the tour suits a group: a household with out-of-town guests, or two families who coordinate ahead of time, fits it far better than a couple deciding that morning. The Nov. 15 tour starts at 1 p.m.
The early slot that same Sunday goes to Behind-the-Scenes with the Farmer, 8:30 to 10 a.m., for $35. Animal Husbandry Manager Virginia Audet leads participants into the pastures, pens and barns during the morning feeding and walks through the farm's daily animal care. It's meant for adults. Children 10 and up are welcome with an adult, and registration is required. A morning that starts in the barn and ends with an afternoon tour group fills the whole Sunday at Hidden Villa.
The free date is the Garden Volunteer Day on Monday, Nov. 9, a three-hour shift on Hidden Villa's family and individual schedule. Here the cost is your time instead of a fee.
The persimmon class with homework
The Hoshigaki Workshop on Saturday, Nov. 14, is the most seasonal item on the farm's calendar. Hoshigaki is a Japanese preparation of dried persimmons, and Hidden Villa makes it with persimmons from its own trees. Instructors cover how to prepare the fruit and the steps that turn it into a finished treat "in a few weeks time." The fee is $20 per person and covers the persimmons and supplies. Everyone goes home with fruit from the farm to finish on their own.
There are two sessions, 10 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 2 p.m. The class is for adults and children 12 and older who can handle a paring knife or vegetable peeler. Every participant, child or adult, has to register ahead of time.
The hour on Moody Road is only the start. Because the fruit needs a few more weeks after the class, a Nov. 14 workshop puts the finished hoshigaki somewhere in December.
Two standing Saturdays at Foothill
Not everything this fall is a one-time booking. The Los Altos Hills County Fire District and GreenWaste run a free brush and yard-trimmings collection from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Foothill College Parking Lot 1. It's held on the third Saturday of every month. October's was the 17th, so the next one is Saturday, Nov. 21. That's the same day as Hidden Villa's last Weekend Farm Tour on the November schedule.
That makes two Foothill Saturdays four weeks apart, in two different lots, with different rules. Lot 6 on Oct. 24 is the once-a-season clear-out that requires the postcard. Lot 1 on Nov. 21 is the monthly drop-off for the clippings left after a weekend of fall yard work. A household that keeps them straight can clear the garage in October and the hedges in November.
The pathway on the south end of town
A smaller change has been under way on the south side of town. The Town's July Public Works update describes the Magdalena Road Pathway as a roadside path of about 1,300 feet. It's a new connection in a planned loop network, the Magdalena–Ravensbury Pathway Loop. That update scheduled construction to start Aug. 5 and wrap up by the end of September. A Magdalena Avenue pathway update was on the Pathways Committee agenda for its Sept. 28 meeting. Before you plan a loop walk around it, check the Town's next Public Works update.
Moody Road on an ordinary weekday
Hidden Villa's trails don't follow the event calendar. Its visitor pages list general hours of Tuesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to dusk, from September through May. The farm is generally closed June through August for summer camp. Those pages say trail reservations are encouraged but not required, and they ask for $10 for parking. Visitors who can't pay can ask for a discount and won't be turned away. Guests are asked to use the Main Parking Lot and not park along Moody Road. These pages are older, so check the visit page before a weekday hike.
The one date that stays open
One item on the town calendar asks nothing of you. "Anything Goes," an exhibition by the local women's group Artists Beyond the Obvious, opened at Town Hall with a reception on Oct. 18. The Town lists it as running from October 2026 through March 2027. The show stays up at Town Hall well into spring, long after the November dates are over.
If Saturday's Clean Up Day is the start of a bigger reset at home, whether that's clearing rooms before a renovation, staging or a quiet sale, The Campi Group can help plan what comes after the truck comes back empty. Our Campi Concierge team handles the staging and pre-market work in Los Altos Hills, on a timeline that fits around the town's calendar.
