Mare Island Shoreline Heritage Preserve — Attraction in Vallejo

The Preserve was saved by its citizens from becoming a Bechtel-Shell LNG plant in the early 2000's by a citizens committee that led the city into the largest protest fight in its history. It was managed by a trust and almost exclusively Myran Hayes who created a visitor center, created seating and coolers on the trails with drinks, decorated for special events and occasions, hosted the first Halloween zombie events for ScareIsland and she maintained the trails and kept the place up... sadly, once again, Vallejo City Counsel and the city parks department didn't appreciate citizrn sweat and her hard work and kicked her out, they threw away the nice social seating areas, closed the visitor center and took away all the personality... very shameful and un un-gracious of our city.

Still, it offers an nice hike, to top of the hill where you can see Mt Tam, the North San Pablo Bay, Mt Diablo, and 360 degree views of East Bay, northbay, Marin, Napa Sonoma, the Napa River and Vallejo and Mare Island of course. Open from morning to 5pm and don't think you can walk out the old now dead golf course side as it is locked up, for some dumb reason, and you could get locked in, it happened to be once.

Visit the tap room for burger fire and a homemade beer... visit the historical shipyards and museum or walk or bike Mare Island,

See it while you can before developers build it into an exclusive community, not that I wouldn't want to live there. There are plans for the historical development of the Mare Island core. Currently, there is no real grocery or services available there, but there is a distillery, and the coal sheds Tap Room for lunch or early dinner. Mare Island hosts a yearly ScareIsland event, and Myrna still hosts the Bird For Away Festival. Many don't know that this area is part of the North American Fly zone for birds and some of the best bird watching around! Mare Island is a great day trip from anywhere in...

We went here on a hot weekend in June (high of 100). Beautiful place to walk around. Interesting dynamic and group of people running the place. Everyone is really nice and there's a lot of character.

Watch out for rattlesnakes. When we were there, someone's dog was bitten by a rattlesnake and my wife and I had to rush them down to the bottom of the hill in our car. So keep your pet on a short leash and stay in the middle of the path. Don't let your dog explore or lunge at things.

Wear sunscreen. Use mosquito repellent as well. This is a neat place but just keep in mind, a nature preserves job is to preserve nature so that means there are lots of critters out there. That also means you should be respectful and...

The preserve is one of the things I love most about Vallejo. I go to the old oak trees when I need to see a forest instead of grassland. I love it so much I'm getting married there this year. Yes, it has its rough edges and needs some care, but for a fully volunteer managed park, it is a gem. Hopefully, the State, or Vallejo, or a private group will recognize the park for its value to the public and invest in its renewal. Until then, I thank the volunteers who keep the gate open, and the veteran rose...