Wildlife, Plants and Fungi
The redwoods in Joaquin Miller Park are considered to be one of the few Redwood forests to flourish today in an urban setting. Most notably, native Coast Redwoods (sequoia sempervirens) grow throughout the park. Many are in the second or third growth following major logging in the late 1800s and early 1900s when the redwoods were used to help build Oakland, San Francisco and other booming cities of the time. Of the thousands of trees planted under Joaquin Miller's leadership, many still stand today.
The park contains a variety of representative central coastal range habitats, hot open hillsides, cool redwoods groves, oak woodlands, lush creeksides and wet meadows. The park is home to over 200 species of native plants. There are rare plants like the Oakland star tulip, pallid manzanita and leatherwood alongside such non-natives as fennel, acacia and eucalyptus. California's state grass, purple needlegrass, and the state flower, the California golden poppy, are abundant in the serpentine grasslands.
Walk gently and discover elusive wildlife. Towhees, scrub jays, Cooper's hawks, wild turkeys, California quail, lizards, gopher snakes, or perhaps even a gray fox, deer or skunk all live in this park.