Coyote Hills Visitor Center

"Wow!!" "This is so cool!" "I love this!" - me the entire time I was walking through Coyote Hills Visitor CenterAfter completing the hilly loop at Coyote Hills, we stopped by the Visitor Center in search of a restroom before heading to our car. Talk about a hidden gem! I've been to Coyote Hills so many times but always assumed this was just a building of offices for the park rangers. I didn't know it was a whole interactive museum!Granted, it's a small museum but still. There's tons of educational exhibits that are both visually interesting and super informational. I love how much the exhibits really honor the land and the tribes that were here before. They also have displays and dioramas of the wildlife and what the land might've looked like before we had all of the buildings and technology, etc around.The staff was super helpful and did a great job helping us and all of the very curious kids there. She even brought out their snake for us to pet (you know, just me standing in a line behind all the kids because I was stoked to get close up with a snake lol).They also have a garden that is the perfect place for someone looking to just sit and enjoy the nature in a quiet space. It was a bit of a rainy morning when we stopped by so the garden was wet but I bet it's really beautiful in the spring.There's lots of picnic tables outside so this could be a fun, free adventure for families or friends/couples.So cool that they have so many planned activities too. If you're ever at Coyote Hills, def consider stopping by and donate to support!

Great Visitor's Center, just keep going past the first parking lot and it will be on your left in the back area with more interesting hill trails and closer access marsh trails.They have an outdoor garden called the "Nectar Garden" that has a small butterfly aviary but a much larger selection of indigenous and foreign plants. Throughout the garden are small fountains and different frog and animal statues which are fun for the kids to find. The plants are labelled and we enjoyed the large white lilies next to the the trumpet tree which has a similar pink bloom like cherry blossoms but are much larger.Inside are some dedicated exhibitions to the indigenous Ohlone, Bay Miwok, and Delta Youkes people which are very well done and informative. There is a 1:1 Tule Reed Boat, videos on keeping Ohlone crafts alive, and an impressive scale model diorama of a village. Drawers can be pulled out and more details can be discovered about tools and crafts from this area's earliest people.Before we came in, my oldest asked us what kind of animals lived in the marsh and all the answers were in the visitor's center. They have models of all the native plants and animals and there are even replicas of the gross but necessary sand worms and their egg sacs.

Very friendly staff. Been here twice to get the trail challenge guide book and t-shirt. The place is neatly arranged and always have plenty stocks of maps. Parking spots are plenty. The surrounding areas are very beautiful to explore.