Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District will welcome spring and visitors of all ages to the Daniels Nature Center on the edge of Alpine Pond on Saturday, April 5, 2008 and Sunday, April 6, 2008. Opening weekend will provide special activities and festivities for families – refreshments, pond studies, visits with a captive-bred gopher snake, and a “Ranger-led Ecosystem Exploration Hike.” Please note: the ranger-led hike requires reservations, and will be accepted on or after March 22, 2008. To make a reservation, visit www.openspace.org/reservations or call (650) 691-2150 (enter Option 2).

The Nature Center, located at Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve, will continue to be open on weekends until mid-November. Spring and summer hours are 12:00 noon – 5:00 pm; fall hours 11:00 am – 4:00 pm. For directions or more information, call (650) 691-1200 or visit the District’s Web site www.openspace.org.

Built in 1995, the Nature Center was funded in part by the Peninsula Open Space Trust in partnership with the David and Judy Daniels family in memory of their son David C. Daniels. The focus of the small Nature Center is to interpret the local environment (both flora and fauna) with an emphasis on the diversity of the natural communities that occur nearby – grassland, woodland, chaparral/shrub, and pond/riparian. Volunteers staff the facility and welcome visitors by providing information about the District, its preserves, and the area’s natural history. Volunteers also encourage hands-on discovery via the Nature Center’s exhibits and exploration of the surrounding trails.