The Coyote Point Museum for Environmental Education is the highpoint of the park and one of the Bay Area's major museums. It was the first ecology museum in America. The multi-level museum features exhibits on the six major ecosystems in the Bay Area. Hands-on interactive displays, computer activities, videos, films, and live animals provide an educational and fun experience for all ages. For more information, you can contact the Museum at (650) 342-7755.
The park has several playgrounds. The largest is near the windsurfing beach
on the west side of the park. This playground has a concrete hill with
curving trough-like slides built into the hill. There are tunnels in the
hill for climbing through. Elevated wooden platforms lead from the hill
to slides and other equipment.
A smaller playground is on the east side of the park between the eucalyptus
grove picnic area and the marina.
Lawns extend out to the beach. Near the beach are buildings housing the
park office, showers, restrooms, and a snack bar.
The beach is a popular place for windsurfing, kayaking, and other water
sports.
The long sandy beach provides one of the few areas on San Francisco Bay
for swimming.
The beach has lifeguard stations. The warm shallow waters are inviting
for kids. The wind-generated waves provide an ocean-like experience.
There are broad open lawns west of the point. Picnic tables are protected
from the Bay breezes by low berms. Beyond it, the land rises up into a
rocky hill covered with tall eucalyptus trees. More lawns, playgrounds,
and shaded picnic areas are on the hill.
The eucalyptus groves are one of the hallmarks of the park. They provide
shade and a windbreak against the strong bay winds.
Bicycle and pedestrian-only trails criscross the hill, many under the shade
of the eucalyptus trees and some along the edges of the cliffs. The trails
here are in sharp contrast to the rest of the usually flat and wide open
Bay Trail.
The Coyote Point Museum for Environmental
Education sits on top of the hill at the point, with views of the Bay
out the picture windows. Next to the large wood-paneled musuem building
is the 1-acre Wildlife Habitats, with walk-through environments and gardens.
Animals and exhibits include an enclosed outdoor aviary, a coyote, bobcat,
porcupine, badger, raccoon, fox, reptiles, amphibians, and river otters.
Inside, the museum is built on several levels. The main Environmental Hall
covers 8,000 square feet, with informative and interactive exhibits on
nature and the environment. There is a large mural and display at the entrance
to the main hall on the top floor.
Each succeeding level covers different environments and environmental issues.
There is a large food pyramid showing how much food a predator eats in
a year. There are large hangng models of gray whales and aquarium tanks.
At the bottom of the Environmental Hall is a model of a bay marsh. A platform
leads over the simulated marsh. A window in the floor of the platform allows
looking down into the marsh "waters" to see the plants and animals that
live there.
Along the northeast side of the point, steep cliffs drop down to narrow
rocky beaches.
At the northeast corner of the point, a viewing platform on the edge of
a cliff provides panoramic views of San Francisco Bay.
Looking east from the viewing platform, the breakwater and entrance to
the Coyote Point Marina can be seen, with the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge
in the background. The breakwater provides fishing access to the Bay.
The Coyote Point Marina is a busy yacht harbor that runs along most of
the east side of the park. At the southern end of the Marina is the Coyote
Point Yacht Club. This private yacht club is over 50 years old and
has some 300 members.
South and east of the Coyote Point Marina are marshes along the Bay. Footpaths
lead through the marshes. These marshes are the remnants of the wetlands
that used to surround Coyote Point many years ago when the point was an
island.