Tulare Hill rises in the Santa Teresa Hills at the southern edge of San Jose, near the narrow gap between the Santa Cruz and Diablo ranges and overlooking the Laguna Seca wetlands in northern Coyote Valley. Its importance lies chiefly in its ecology: the hill and about 330 acres of surrounding serpentine grasslands support endangered and specialized species such as the Bay checkerspot butterfly and Dudleya setchellii, with part of the area protected as the Tulare Hill Ecological Preserve. The site also reflects a longer valley history, from Francisco Palóu’s 1774 expedition crossing to its place within Rancho Santa Teresa and Rancho Laguna Seca lands in the early 1800s.