Park Happenings for April

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🥾 Discover New Parks with Trails Challenge. For 32 years, the East Bay Regional Park District’s annual Trails Challenge program has inspired people to visit nature with a guidebook featuring 20 curated trails ranging from easy to challenging. The program encourages parkgoers to explore places outside their usual ones. Participants who complete five trails or 26.2 miles receive a commemorative pin (while supplies last). Download the guidebook at ebparks.org/trailschallenge.

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🌸 East Bay Regional Parks Budding with Excitement. In the height of wildflower season, there are beautiful displays and varieties found in almost all East Bay Regional Parks. By preserving open spaces and stewarding the land through effective management of invasive species, the East Bay Regional Park District helps ensure the survival of beautiful native flowers. Some parks with an abundance of wildflowers include Briones, Del Valle, Las Trampas, Pleasanton Ridge, and Black Diamond Mines. For a full list of places to see wildflowers, visit ebparks.org/parks/nature/wildflowers.

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🌎 Enjoy Earth Day in your Regional Parks! Earth Day is a celebration of the natural world and a reminder of our responsibility to take care of it. Celebrate Earth Day with the Park District by spending time in nature: enjoy a hike or ride, plan a picnic, or volunteer at one of the Park District's Earth Day cleanup events. Earth Day activities and volunteer cleanup projects are taking place at several locations on April 19.

For more information, visit ebparks.org/we-celebrate/earth-day.

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🙂 Visitors Urged to Respect Nature and Each Other. Welcoming more people into nature is at the heart of the Park District’s mission, but with increased visitation comes potential trail traffic, user conflicts, and impacts on wildlife. When exploring Regional Parks, visitors have the power to make a difference. Show your love for nature by being a thoughtful and respectful park visitor—a Park Pro.

✔️ Respect the environment—stay on designated trails, and don’t create new trails.

✔️ Respect wildlife—do not touch or feed animals.

✔️ Keep nature clean—pack in and pack out trash or put it in a trash can.

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🐏 Experience Sheep Shearing Day on Saturday, April 12, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Ardenwood Historic Farm in Fremont. See the farm’s sheep get their annual haircut, try your hand at wool carding, and make your own wooly lamb to take home. Park admission fees apply. Parking is free. For more information, visit ebparks.org/calendar and search “sheep shearing.”

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💳 Cashless Kiosk Pilot Program Extended at Roberts and Quarry Lakes. The Park District has extended its cashless fee collection pilot program at Roberts Regional Recreation Area and Quarry Lakes Regional Park through Dec. 31, 2025. During this period, only credit cards will be accepted—no cash payments. The pilot project aims to reduce visitor wait times and improve operational efficiency. The extension will allow the Park District to assess the program during the busy summer months. For more information, visit ebparks.org/cashless-fee-collection-pilot-program.

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🌱 Spring into Gardening at the Botanic Garden Spring Plant Sale. If you are interested in native plants, check out the Regional Parks Botanic Garden’s Spring Plant Sale on Saturday, April 19, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Native plants are great for landscaping and gardening and also provide natural habitat, support pollinators, and reduce water use. Friends of the Botanic Garden receive early access at 9 a.m. For information about the sale, memberships, and inventory lists, please visit nativeplants.org.

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