Celebrating Juneteenth with Free Park Day on Sunday, June 18

Three Naturalist-led Juneteenth Nature Walks and Hikes Also Scheduled

The East Bay Regional Park District is celebrating Juneteenth with a Free Park Day on Sunday, June 18, 2023, in recognition of the date when enslaved Black Americans in Texas were notified of their freedom, albeit 2.5 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.

Please note that while Juneteenth is on Monday, June 19, the District’s Free Park Day is on Sunday, June 18, to serve more visitors.

The District is committed to enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, and making our parks and agency more welcoming and reflective of the communities we serve. Fees waived on Juneteenth include park entrance, parking, dogs, horses, boat launching, and fishing. However, the fee waiver does not apply to swimming, camping, reservable picnic facilities (due to capacity limits), District concessions, state fees for fishing licenses, and watercraft inspections for invasive mussels.

The Park District is also celebrating Juneteenth with several naturalist-led programs, including a hike at Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont on Sunday, June 18, 2023, at 10 a.m. and nature walks on Monday, June 19, 2023, at Thurgood Marshall Regional Park – Home of the Port Chicago 50 in Concord at 10 a.m. and at Big Break Regional Shoreline in Oakley on Monday at 8 a.m. For more information, visit www.ebparks.org/Juneteenth.

The East Bay Regional Park District is the largest regional park system in the nation, comprising 73 parks, 55 miles of shoreline, and over 1,300 miles of trails for hiking, biking, horseback riding, and environmental education. The Park District receives more than 30 million visits annually throughout Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the San Francisco Bay Area.