Create-With-Nature Zone in Redwood Regional Park, Oakland, CA

The Create-with-Nature Zone in Redwood Regional Park began in 2010 as a participatory public art project with a purpose. It began as Pathway, running over 150 yards through a redwood grove, with the pathway borders designated as spaces for the public to make ephemeral creations using sticks, redwood needles, pine cones, and more. The border edges, made from large tree limbs, served to protect and bring attention to an ongoing effort to restore the vegetation under the redwoods using indigenous ferns and other native plants.

After split-rail fencing was installed to demarcate the pathway and protect the understory vegetation, the Create-with-Nature Pathway was converted to a Zone in 2020, filling a cul-de-sac off the the main pathway.

The Zone is free and open to park visitors 365 days a year, and is heavily used by groups on field trips and by summer camp groups.

The Pathway and subsequent Zone had their origins in an installation created at the first of four Art in Nature Festivals produced in the park by the interdisciplinary arts organization Samavesha. During five community volunteer events in 2013, 2016, and 2018, major work on the border logs and restoration areas was carried out. Staff from the East Bay Regional Park District supply natural materials from the park for use by the public in the Zone.

The locations of the Zone  and nearby parking are shown on this map . A $5 parking fees is collected on weekends and major holidays April through October at the Redwood Gate entrance.

See this photo gallery.