Sunday, September 11, 2022 from 9:00am-11:00am

Cleanup Signups

• Guest familes are welcome! Please signup to let us know you’d like to join us here
• Pack 916 families can signup here
• See who is attending here

Time to Give back!

Join Pack 916 as we give back to our community. We have hiked at Coyote Hills a number of times and it is a beautiful spot. Signups are limited to only 20 people, so register soon!

About Coyote Hills

Coyote Hills got its start at the bottom of the ocean. Silica deposits on the ocean floor hardened into chert, the hard red rock you’ll find on the high peaks in the park. Chert was highly valued by the Indians because it could be fashioned into spear points and other tools. The other common rock found in the park is volcanic greenstone which also formed under the ocean. The greenstone is hardly recognizable as a volcanic rock here, however, having become crumbly and orange-colored due to extensive weathering. These sea-floor rocks became folded and contorted as the ocean floor drifted east and smashed into the North American continent.

People often wonder by there is such a flat expanse of land between Coyote Hills and the surrounding hills. The block of land lying between the Hayward fault, at the base of the hills to the east, and the San Andreas Fault to the west, was at one time the same level as the hills of either side, but stretched and sunk during the course of millions of years of earthquakes. This lower-elevation land became flooded by bay water or filled by stream deposits (Fremont consists of sediment deposited by Alameda Creek), and only the high points of this folded, contorted landscape are still visible – Alcatraz, Angel Island, and Coyote Hills, to name a few.

Coyote Hills is an important wildlife sanctuary. Its marshes are part of the Pacific Flyway, an aerial highway for migrating waterfowl and other birds. Deer are frequently seen here, as well as raccoons, foxes, muskrats, and skunks. Look for their tracks in muddy areas. The Ohlone settled here over 2000 years ago, leaving a substantial shellmound full of artifacts. More recently Coyote Hills has seen a variety of uses, including a duck hunting club and a NIKE missile base (you can get more details about the history at the Visitor Center). Salt evaporation ponds between the hills and the open bay are refilled in August, when the bay waters are saltiest. Over the course of five years, the water is pumped south from one pond to the next, on its way to becoming a finished product at the Cargill salt plant in Newark. The reddish color is due to algae and bacteria which can survive the salty conditions. The ponds attract a variety of birds.