Exploring Nature in the San Francisco Bay Area

  • Exploring the Marin Headlands

    Exploring the Marin Headlands

    To familiarize yourself with all the Marin Headlands have to offer, start at the National Park Service’s Marin Headlands Visitor Center. There, browse their historical and natural history exhibits, tap into their educational resources on the Miwok Indians or the Headland’s military history, and swing by the gift shop. The Golden Gate National Recreation Area…

    Read more

  • Update: Sea Otter Census Numbers Rise

    Update: Sea Otter Census Numbers Rise

    Since our story went to press, there’s been some good news for the Southern Sea Otter: census numbers for the California population soared by 17 percent since last year. More than 2,500 otters were counted off our coast this spring, the highest number recorded since current census methods were implemented in 1983. While the dramatic…

    Read more

  • Bay Area Reservoirs and Recreational Areas

    Bay Area Reservoirs and Recreational Areas

    There are quite a few reservoirs and artificial lakes in and around the Bay Area that are open to the public for a variety of recreational acitivities. Following is a listing of many of these which, while not necessarily comprehensive, gives you a range of places to get wet this summer and beyond. East Bay…

    Read more

  • Sonar Testing and Gray Whales

    Sonar Testing and Gray Whales

    In mid-November, a federal judge gave the U.S. Navy permission to test its Low-Frequency Array (LFA) sonar in the western Pacific Ocean. The system transmits sounds up to 215 decibels, approximately equivalent to the noise of an F-15 fighter jet during takeoff. Environmental groups have sought to stop the Navy, fearing that whales in the…

    Read more

  • Star Gazing and Night Hiking Resources

    Star Gazing and Night Hiking Resources

    To See the Stars Well do I know that I am mortal and a creature of one day;but when my mind follows the massed wheeling circles of the stars,my feet no longer touch the earth…—Ptolemy, epigram to the Almagest Observatories & Planetaria Visiting the Chabot Space and Science Center (510-336-7300; located on Skyline Boulevard in…

    Read more

  • The Eastshore State Park and the Fate of the Albany Bulb

    The Eastshore State Park and the Fate of the Albany Bulb

    The new Eastshore State Park comprises one of the largest undeveloped public landholdings fronting San Francisco Bay, stretching from the Bay Bridge in Oakland to Marina Bay in Richmond. The 8.5-mile-long, 260-acre park is the result of more than four decades of lobbying, negotiations, and ballot initiatives by local environmental activists. In 2000, the Department…

    Read more