Parks

Trail Mix. Scroggin. Gorp. Studentenfutter. Schmogle. Great names for a great snack! Try one of our specially formulated blends on your next park outing. Read on for some of our favorite recipes.

To build excitement for National Trails Day on June 2, 2012, we are putting you to the (trail) test. Flex your brain muscles to identify the park and the trail in the photos below and discover what type of trail aficionado (or not!) you are.

As you are out enjoying the parks this summer, be sure to take a closer look and appreciate the many ways that plants have adapted to ecological conditions to disperse their seeds.

Invasive species cause an imbalance to native communities and upset the food web that has long been established. 

International Migratory Bird Day has been celebrating migratory birds for 20 years, and here in the Golden Gate National Parks a free IMBD event has been held for 12 years running. Join us at Muir Woods on May 12, 2012 for bird walks, demonstrations, games and activities, and a chance to meet a live Spotted Owl!

For hundreds of thousands of years, the coastal bluffs at Fort Funston have faced off against the Pacific Ocean, prevailing winds cleaving off inches of sandstone each winter. And each spring, hundreds of Bank Swallows (five-inch, globe-trotting bug-traps with wings) return to these cliffs to carve out nesting holes.

2012 marks a decade of Trails Forever—a tremendously successful initiative to improve trails and habitats across the Golden Gate National Parks. Take a walk down memory lane and check out images capturing our favorite Trails Forever moments.

A dry and relatively warm winter means the wildflowers are popping early this year (2012)! In March, the parks start unfolding their spectacular spectrum of color. Read on for our park botanists’ favorite petal-peeping spots.

Balancing precariously on the strong March winds, stilling Red-tailed Hawks are easy to spot in the Marin Headlands. But what’s the driving force behind this aerial feat? What adaptations do these majestic raptors rely upon to perch in the sky?

Shamrocks are one of the quintessential symbols of the St. Patrick’s Day holiday, but have you ever wondered how these cute green icons compare to plants we see in the wild, here in the Golden Gate National Parks?