Friends of San Pedro Valley Park

06/06/2026

Plant Walk in San Pedro Valley Park - Easy

Want to learn how to identify the plants in SPVP or are already familiar with plant ID but want to know what’s blooming in the park?
Join Melanie Heisler, manager of the Plant Field Guide Project for the Friends of San Pedro Valley Park, for what we hope will be bi-monthly trail hikes and learn the basics of plant identification or help us catalog what’s in bloom. This activity is appropriate for folks who are familiar with identifying plants and folks who just want to learn. The only requirement is being able to hike the trails in the park.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/plant-walk-in-san-pedro-valley-park-easy-tickets-1990145215914

05/05/2026

Please help San Mateo County Parks by taking this quick survey if you visit Quarry Park: https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/cccaa722f52945e4a3343ee19a09dcb8

04/17/2026

International Bat Appreciation Day! Thanks for your hard work Rui Pierre!🦇

If you've walked along Weiler Ranch Road at San Pedro Valley Park recently you may notice a new installation along the trail! Rui Pierre of Troop 156 of Burlingame worked with our Volunteer Coordinator Stu Smith to install this bat house and accompanying sign. Bat houses are structures that provide safe spaces for bats to roost and raise their young. Bat roosting habitat is continuously under threat of changing land use and other human disturbance.

San Mateo County is home to about 13 bat species! Bats are an important part of the ecosystem as they manage pest populations of moths, mosquitos, and other insects. Bats often get a bad rap, but they are a part of the delicate balance of our local and global ecosystems. Around the world, fruit bats play a critical role in pollination. If you enjoy bananas, mangoes, peaches, or figs be sure to appreciate a bat the next time you eat those foods!

04/09/2026

Our 5th Annual photo contest has officially started and will end on May 1st! Enter your finest photos of flora, fauna, landscapes and the people who enjoy these aspects when they visit this wondrous place. Photos must be taken in San Pedro Valley County Park between May 1, 2025 and May 1, 2026. The Visitor Center will display the work of the first, second, and third place finishers in all categories. The works of the first, second, and third place finishers in all categories will be displayed in the Visitor Center and park visitors will be able to vote for their favorite image to determine the “People’s Choice Award” winner. Best of luck; we can’t wait to see what you capture!

Each entrant may submit up to four photos in total. Submit your photos here!

Categories:
1) Flora
2) Fauna
3) Trails & Landscapes
4) Activities of People in the Park

https://friendsofsanpedrovalleypark.org/2026-photo-contest/

03/20/2026

Plant Walk in San Pedro Valley Park
Want to learn how to identify the plants in SPVP or are already familiar with plant ID but want to know what’s blooming in the park?

Join Melanie Heisler, manager of the Plant Field Guide Project for the Friends of San Pedro Valley Park, for what we hope will be bi-monthly trail hikes and learn the basics of plant identification or help us catalog what’s in bloom. This activity is appropriate for folks who are familiar with identifying plants and folks who just want to learn. The only requirement is being able to hike the trails in the park.

Details:
When: Sunday March 29, 2026
Hike Leader: Melanie Heisler
Trails: Montara Mt. Trail > Brooks Creek Loop
Distance: 2.28 miles
Gain: 641 feet
Difficulty: Moderate

Prepare for walking outdoors:

Reusable water bottle
Snacks, if desired
Hat/sunscreen/masks
Plan for potential exposure to sun, poison oak, ticks, prickly plants

Join us!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/plant-walk-in-san-pedro-valley-park-tickets-1985410441075?aff=oddtdtcreator

01/15/2026

Manzanitas & Their Animals: Keys to Evolution

Dr. Tom Parker, Professor of Biology, Emeritus, from SFSU will present his Nature Talk on Zoom. This talk will focus on surveying animals at different stages of manzanita’ s life history. Tom will focus on some of his current research, seed banks resulting from rodent caching fruit, and the implications for living in arid, canopy fire regions. Since soil seed banks are so critical to the success of this genus, he developed a model of seed bank dynamics, and the role rodents play in managing them. There are not only evolutionary implications, but insights for those managing chaparral with manzanita species.

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kXBZ2z4XSIGXtU-XNoLA_Q #/registration

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11/09/2025

Western Snowy Plovers in the Bay Area
Saturday, November 15 at 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm PST
FREE
Speaker: Maddy Schwartz

Saturday, November 15th, 2025 at 7 pm

On Saturday, November 15th, 2025, at 7 pm, the Friends of San Pedro Valley Park are pleased to welcome Maddy Schwartz from the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory. On a Zoom webinar, she will present her lecture entitled “Western Snowy Plovers in the Bay Area.” In her talk, Maddy will introduce the Western Snowy Plover, their ecology and life history, and the threats facing plovers in the Bay Area and beyond. She will then dive into different management strategies used to mitigate those threats and support our local plover population. Finally, she will provide information on how plovers fared during the 2024 breeding season, which areas were the most successful, some of the most interesting things that happened during the season, and an anecdotal overview of the 2025 season.

To participate in this Webinar, please register in advance using the following link. There you need to put in your name and email address to register. You will then get a confirmation email with further instructions, and reminder emails closer to the event.

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pcmK1tuQTvyvhCeGDpdiUg

· The lecture with Q&A will last one hour.

· Questions will be submitted in writing using Zoom.

10/05/2025

Speaker: J.R. Blair

Saturday, October 18th at 7 pm

On Saturday, October 18th, 2025, at 7 pm, the Friends of San Pedro Valley Park are pleased to welcome back J.R. Blair, retired lecturer from San Francisco State University. On a Zoom webinar, he will present his lecture entitled “Natural History of the National Parks of Southwest Costa Rica and Bogotá, Colombia.” J.R. and his wife spent most of their Costa Rica time in the southwest part of the country on the Pacific coast, including Mañuel Antonio and Corcovado National Parks. In Colombia they were able to visit Chingaza National Park with the very special habitat called páramo as well as special places in the country's capital, Bogotá. Join us to enjoy photos and videos of some of the animal, botanical, and fungal denizens of these beautiful countries.

To participate in this Webinar, please register in advance using the following link. There you need to put in your name and email address to register. You will then get a confirmation email with further instructions, and reminder emails closer to the event.

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_y6Utzu2wRbq5AENyMuKi7w

04/24/2025

Natural History Walk in San Pedro Valley Park

Sunday, May 4th, 2025
Time: 10 am – 12 pm

This is our Spring Nature Walk: Register for a 2-hour nature stroll with J.R. Blair on Sunday, May 4th at 10 am. We’ll get started as soon as everyone has gathered, so please be on time. Remember to take sunscreen, water, hat and a light jacket. This walk is for ages 12 years and older. If you attended the February Naturalist Walk, please do not sign up for this one to give others a chance to attend. We have a limit of 15 people and sign-ups are done using the following link:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1331488510979?aff=oddtdtcreator

About the leader: J.R. Blair received his Bachelor’s degree at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington and obtained his Master’s degree at San Francisco State University in 1999 studying with the accomplished mycologist, Dr. Dennis Desjardin. He was a lecturer of biology at SFSU for 21 years and the director of the University’s Sierra Nevada Field Campus for eleven years until his retirement in December 2020.

03/24/2025

Earth Day Restoration Work Party
Tuesday, April 22
10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Help us maintain the Native Plant Garden at San Pedro Valley Park Visitor Center.
Learn more at FSPVP.ORG