Enjoy a free, family-friendly adventure in the East Bay Regional Parks

Includes Volunteer Planting Opportunity at Contra Loma and Hike at Black Diamond Mines in Antioch

By Jen Vanya, Public Information Specialist, Public Affairs, EBRPD

For more than a decade, the East Bay Regional Park District has encouraged the community to embrace Green Friday—the day after Thanksgiving—as an opportunity to get outside, enjoy fresh air, and reconnect with nature in the East Bay Regional Parks.

“Green Friday is a healthy and meaningful way to spend the day after Thanksgiving,” said Jessica Sloan, the Park District’s volunteer program supervisor. “It’s a chance to enjoy time with family and friends in the outdoors or give back by participating in one of our volunteer clean-up projects. However you choose to spend it, the day is all about celebrating and caring for our natural spaces.”

On Green Friday, November 28, all Park District entrance and park use fees are waived, including parking, boat launching, and fishing, as well as entrance to Ardenwood Historic Farm. Fees are still in effect for state fishing licenses, watercraft inspections, and concessionaires, such as the Tilden Merry-Go-Round.

 Green Friday is part of the #OptOutside movement to promote health-focused alternatives to Black Friday shopping.

Green Friday activities in Regional Parks include:

• Volunteer Planting Opportunity, 9 a.m. at Contra Loma in Antioch (registration requested)
• Green Friday Hike, 9 a.m. at Black Diamond Mines in Antioch
• Green Friday Hike Amongst the Trees, 9 a.m. at Reinhardt Redwood in Oakland
• Green Friday Gratitude Hike, 10 a.m. at Sunol Wilderness in Sunol
• Green Friday Hike, 10:30 a.m. at Coyote Hills in Fremont

For more information about these and additional activities, visit www.ebparks.org/green-friday.

The East Bay Regional Park District is the largest regional park system in the nation, comprising 73 parks, 55 miles of shoreline, and over 1,330 miles of trails for hiking, biking, horseback riding, and environmental education. The Park District receives an estimated 30 million visits annually throughout Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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EBRPD Green Friday Free Park Day

This entry was posted on Monday, November 24th, 2025 at 5:51 pm and is filed under East Bay, News, Parks, Recreation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.