A two-year project to rehabilitate the facilities at China Beach kicked off Thursday, May 4, at a ceremony overlooking the beach, Marin Headlands and the Golden Gate Bridge. The project will cost around $25 million, $10 million of which has been fundraised by the Parks Conservancy.

Martine Glaros and Clint Josol, who work at the Parks Conservancy's Marin Headlands Native Plant Nursery, helped compile a colorful informative guide to spring wildflower blooms. The Parks Conservancy has cultivated over 300 unique species of plants native to the Golden Gate National Parks in its native plant nurseries to preserve and restore park natural areas.

"People come here thinking it's a city backyard park," said Roberta Walker, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy retail manager for the Lands End Lookout Visitor Center. Walking along the coast at Lands End makes you feel like you've found your own secret path. Still, the trails here are well maintained and easy to follow.

A pair of nesting peregrine falcons on Alcatraz Island successfully hatched four chicks in April. “The efforts to monitor nesting peregrines on Alcatraz are very exciting,” Teresa Ely, senior program manager at the Parks Conservancy’s Golden Gate Raptor Observatory. “Their local population has rebounded, and it’s amazing to see these birds thrive in habitats that act as sanctuaries amongst urban landscapes.”

For those who live in and visit the area, these trails, and hundreds of miles more, are a defining characteristic of Marin. They are built on layered stories of the past, surfacing experiences of nature, athleticism and community. “The trails in Marin connect you to those who have walked before,” says Mia Monroe, National Parks ranger and Marin community liaison.