Park Stories

If you’ve been by the Crissy Field Center recently, you’ve probably seen the wind turbines spinning with the wind. Have you ever wondered how much energy they are producing? Well, now you can find out!

It was three years ago that the Franciscan manzanita was discovered along the old Doyle Drive. How is that manzanita doing in its new home? And what are the plans to re-establish a sustainable population of the plant and the other species that historically grew with it?

On September 27, 2012, on Hawk Hill, we counted 295 Broad-winged Hawk sightings, 10 times our previous one-day count for that species. We even exceeded our season-total record—248 sightings—in just that one day. Aside from these impressive numbers, why is this exciting?

October 5–7 was one very busy weekend in San Francisco, with Fleet Week and America’s Cup headlining two of the many, many events going on in the City. Even so, folks involved with both spectacular events still found time to give some TLC to the Golden Gate National Parks.

From Anaheim to Baltimore, the Institute at the Golden Gate is sharing knowledge and establishing itself as a leading voice on Food for the Parks and Healthy Parks Healthy People. Read how the Institute is taking its place in a movement to position parks as catalysts for healthful change.

On October 27 of 2012, it will be 40 years since President Richard Nixon signed the legislation to create the 34,000-acre Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Since then, the Golden Gate National Parks—as these parklands are popularly called—have grown to more than 80,000 breathtaking acres.

Are you ENTJ or INFP? What about FOFU or MUWO? Take this short quiz and discover your “park personality!” Learn if you’re adventurous and rugged like Fort Funston—or strong and silent like Muir Woods.

Through our completely unscientific (but totally fun!) system of 16 park-sonality types, you’ll find a whole new…

This season, in 2012, the GGRO is able to use brand-new technology to help us track bird movements. On Friday, August 23 we put out a GSM (cell phone) transmitter on a female juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, nicknamed Augusta.

How can a Park Stewardship summer program for high school students clear invasive plants along trails—and reveal pathways to careers in conservation? Hear the inside story from two alums who discovered that jobs working in nature go far beyond Animal Planet.

California Coastal Cleanup Day 2012 was another tremendous success because of the amazing effort and enthusiasm of our community volunteers, as well as the leadership of our site captains and generosity of our sponsors. THANK YOU!

In San Francisco alone, 3,500 volunteers collected over 10,000 pounds of debris—from our shorelines,…

Teens on Trails is a volunteer program designed uniquely with high school students in mind: our volunteer work days are hosted on school holidays!

Our goal is two-fold: we welcome students to cool park sites where we’ll provide some education, snacks, and good times—and in turn, much-needed work gets accomplished…

One sure sign of “summer” in the Golden Gate National Parks is the sight of fluffy white seed blanketing hillsides. But where do these seeds come from? Where are they going? And why do we care? A Presidio seed collector takes a closer look.