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The new and much-anticipated national monument in Santa Cruz County, Cotoni-Coast Dairies, will open to the public as soon as next summer, according to a plan released Wednesday by the federal Bureau of Land Management. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The new and much-anticipated national monument in Santa Cruz County, Cotoni-Coast Dairies, will open to the public as soon as next summer, according to a plan released Wednesday by the federal Bureau of Land Management. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For more stories like this, check out The Chronicle's weekly Travel newsletter! Sign up here. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

One of the Bay Area's hidden and treasured natural gems, the Candelabra Tree at Butano State Park, was discovered by rangers last week to be lightly scorched but intact in a region that was torched by wildfires earlier this fall. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

After being closed since March, the reopening of six major recreation lakes and their surrounding parklands in the East Bay hills has crowned a series of park openings as Indian summer moves through the Bay Area. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

At the headwaters of Pescadero Creek, the CZU Lighting Complex fires burned to a crisp what once was a sea of conifers along the southern slopes, leaving behind the center poles of tree skeletons and a layer of ash. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Four of the greater Bay Area's most treasured recreation destinations, Lake Berryessa, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Point Reyes National Seashore and the Los Vaqueros Watershed, could open within weeks or face recoveries that take years. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As Labor Day weekend nears, concerns about smoke, fires and COVID-19 have put many vacationers on edge. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Old-growth redwood forests that burned at Big Basin Redwoods State Park in Santa Cruz County face a healthy future if a similar fire event and recovery at Humboldt Redwoods is an indicator, say California's top forest experts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the largest closure of recreation lands in the region's history, fire activity has shut down nearly 200 parks, open space preserves and watersheds in the Greater Bay Area. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

New signs, arrows and website photos now show the way along one of the Bay Area's most famous routes, the Dipsea Trail between Mill Valley and Stinson Beach. It's a milestone for the popular and beautiful trail, which previously had been near hopeless for newcomers to navigate. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

New signs, arrows and website photos now show the way along one of the Bay Area's most famous routes, the Dipsea Trail between Mill Valley and Stinson Beach. It's a milestone for the popular and beautiful trail, which previously been near hopeless for newcomers to navigate. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Park visits have surged in the Bay Area during the coronavirus pandemic as residents look for easy escapes from sheltering in place at home. That has prompted park officials to shut down select areas where people might cluster, but also has helped drive large numbers to popular areas that remain open. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

One of the biggest conservation bills in decades is expected to sail to victory in Washington, overcoming years of funding stalemates and political gridlock, and promising scores of new parks and upgraded recreation facilities across the West. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the face of heavy visitor traffic over the Fourth of July weekend, entrances to three East Bay parks were blocked off after parking areas filled, and a fire on adjacent land closed another park. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

On the eve of Memorial Day Weekend, local health officials in San Francisco and Berkeley moved to allow sport fishing boats to operate out of those cities - so long as they abide by a lengthy list of rules designed to avoid the spread of coronavirus. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Drive to South Lake Tahoe this weekend, and you'll risk getting a $1,000 fine for violating El Dorado County's no-travel order, put in place in response to the coronoavirus pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As park managers in the Bay Area dial in the protocols for public access during the coronavirus pandemic, San Mateo County is shutting down all 23 of its parks until further notice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A few ghastly exceptions marred a good week at East Bay parks, where most heeded the details of the state's stay-at-home order to stop the spread of the coronavirus, said Bob Doyle, manager of the nation's largest regional park district. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

After thousands of Bay Area residents mobbed some of the region's parks and beaches last weekend, the state is pushing back to discourage people from venturing too far from their homes during shelter in place. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A deluge of visitors this weekend, many not practicing recommended coronavirus "social distancing" practices and parking illegally after finding full lots, is forcing Bay Area officials to close popular areas and consider shutdowns. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With the coronavirus pandemic having prompted most of the Bay Area to shelter in place, it's understandable that people around the region may be aching to get outdoors into the sunshine to stretch their legs and work up a sweat. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

All state-park campgrounds were closed Wednesday morning as the wave of venue closures around California continues in response to fears over spreading coronavirus and the shelter-in-place order for Bay Area counties. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As Bay Area residents observe the government order to shelter in place as a means of containing the coronavirus outbreak, many who love the outdoors are looking for an escape from the monotony of being indoors at home all day. There is some respite out there if you know where to look. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Most people go to the Redwood Empire for one reason: to see giant trees, the bigger the better. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

From one end of the state to the other, bears and other wildlife are already showing up in the strangest places imaginable and acting a lot like it's spring. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The annual Yosemite "firefall" in late February has ignited a flareup with large crowds expected and major parking restrictions. Yet, there's also a fair chance that this year could be a dud. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the aftermath of the mountain lion attack Monday involving a 3-year-old boy, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has been flooded with calls of sightings from across the state asking wildlife officers to dart or trap lions and move them away from homes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The countless hours Randy Robbins spent stalking bald eagles from his kayak at Antelope Lake paid off at last when he captured an image of a bald eagle snatching a trout from the lake surface. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It seems that most everybody wants "the next greatest thing," whether it's a car, a place to live or a job. Sometimes this approach can include people, when the old is discarded for the new. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

When trying to view and photograph wildlife, when are you too close? [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As the new year arrives, you can book dates for the coming weekend, Friday through Sunday, at the historic Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Valley, and get the room of your choice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Hikers came across a set of animal tracks in the Presidio last week that set off fears that another nomadic mountain lion was roaming San Francisco's parklands. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Watching coho salmon jump through the Inkwells is like watching a Fourth of July fireworks show: At each jump, people ooh and aah at the electrifying sight. You then can crown the day with a grand finale of your own to a nearby mountaintop. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

What you see: A short trail with a guardrail is routed to a cliff-top lookout for a panorama of the Marin coast and out to sea to sight passing ships, whales and shorebirds. Directly below, the cliff plunges 200 feet to the rocky surf. Nearby you can visit Slide Ranch and its animal farm, and below that, a tidal reef loaded with small crabs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A perfect storm for beach treasure hunters last week yielded a long-lost gold ring partially embedded in rock. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Trout that look like no other, colored a vivid California gold and called "lightning trout," have been planted in four lakes in the East Bay hills and brought fishing to life there. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An array of impending projects at Bay Area parks could make for a series of game-changing outdoor access across the region. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Elephant seals are pouring into A�o Nuevo State Park Natural Preserve and Point Reyes National Seashore. The great white sharks will follow them in. Sea otters are going on a vigil to avoid becoming shark mints. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The greatest aerial show on Earth, the migration of 1 billion birds on the Pacific Flyway to California, is a full go this week as early winter weather hits Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Across the narrow, twisty back roads of the Bay Area foothills, car-versus-bike conflicts could be solved with one simple correction: Add bicycle turnout lanes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A landmark proposal to allow rental kayaks, canoes and electric-powered boats for the first time at Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park is being considered by U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, who has oversight over the national parks system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

From Hardy Canyon Ridge, there's a favorite rock where you can take a seat or a perch, and then take in a spectacular view across Round Valley, a series of wildland ridges and beyond to a perfect silhouette of double-peaked Mount Diablo. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The news that electric bicycles got the go-ahead "to begin zipping around on trails in national parks" sent nightmare visions of hikers getting plowed into by fast riders on now-peaceful trails. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In Yosemite, at a trail lunch near Emerald Pool above Vernal Fall, my wife and I ran into a group from Germany who lit up cigarettes. They had no idea that a smoking ban was in effect. Lighting up a cigarette after lunch was just something they always do. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With one little secret or two, you can make nearly any park your own, say three explorers who have ventured to as many Bay Area parks and trails as anybody. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]