The Marin Headlands are a dramatic landscape, with striated red seafloor cliffs rising from the frothy currents of the Golden Gate. With such a storybook backdrop, hasn’t someone set a poem or manuscript here? You bet.

The Marine Mammal Center, based at Fort Cronkhite, rescued 1,800 animals in 2015—three times the average. Learn about one culprit, domoic acid, and how it’s produced, how seals and sea lions are affected, and why El Niño exacerbates its effects.

Even Charles Darwin, the preeminent biologist, had trouble defining a species. The more we learn, the harder it gets. Life does not always supply black-and-white categories—which can impact how we conserve and protect the species around us.

The National Park Service Trail Crew and Interns have built a new boardwalk at the entrance of Muir Woods National Monument. Get the inside story on how this magnificent new way into the woods was completed.

Why get up at darkness-o’clock to battle mall zombies during the holidays? At www.parksconservancy.org/store, you can shop in comfort and joy from your cozy couch. Get started with our 2013 Gift Guide—featuring a hand-picked selection of this season’s must-haves—and find something for all the park lovers on your list!

With the frequent and heavy rains, about a dozen coast redwoods have come down in recent months (winter of 2016-17) at Muir Woods. Learn what happens when a giant falls, how trail crews move a 10-ton redwood, and how the death of one tree gives life to so many other species.

“It has begun.” So begin the reflections of Laura Echávez, a Golden Gate Raptor Observatory intern, as she experiences her first fall migration from Hawk Hill. Discover how she draws parallels between her immigration story and the birds’ journey along the Pacific flyway.

It’s been “Arma-goat-don” for the weeds at Fort Mason’s East Black Point. This past month, a herd of the quirky, cloven-hoofed critters cleared the area of invasive vegetation. Learn where the goats came from, why they’ve been in our parks, and how you can carry on their work.

FOMO ALERT! For the young and young at heart, the parks are full of must-see spectacles and must-do activities this autumn. Check our list of the top eight park attractions this fall, and then fire up your social media apps and get those hashtags ready.

The partners of One Tam—the community initiative of the Tamalpais Lands Collaborative—launched a three-phased, three-year scientific research project to study the mountain's bats.