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Get intimate with bat rays and pickleweed at the Chula Vista Nature Center.

Spy on the secret, subterranean life of a worm; ogle a heron or an egret; pet a bay ray or a leopard shark; get personal with pickleweed and cordgrass; sniff the sage-tinged salt breeze as you stroll an upland pathway along San Diego Bay. Enjoy this and more at the Chula Vista Nature Center, now in its 14th year of serving the public.

Dedicated in 1987, the nature center's 11,000-square-foot interpretive building overlooks the Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, which is the largest remaining parcel of saltwater marsh rimming San Diego Bay. This biologically superproductive swatch of land is emerging from a dingy past dominated by such abuses as chemical manufacturing, illegal dumping, and highway construction.

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Step inside the center and get acquainted with the lives of dozens of interesting creatures from air, sea, marsh, and upland domains. Interpretive panels, hands-on exhibits, aquaria, and terraria educate as well as entertain you. Just outside there's a 4500-gallon petting pool stocked with leopard sharks, sting rays, and bat rays. A new, expanded shark and ray pool will soon be under construction.

A bit farther afield you'll find a recently enlarged raptor enclosure, a new shorebird exhibit, and a clapper-rail exhibit, where a captive-breeding effort is now in progress to aid the survival of this endangered species of bird.

You can also stroll a mile or more on gravel-surfaced interpretive trails, spotting birds (220+ species recorded so far) and learning about the site's role in processing kelp for use in manufacturing gunpowder during World War I. You'll see the result of years of volunteer effort spent in the restoration of salt-marsh and upland habitats to conditions approximating those of prehistoric times. On clear days, the trailside view includes downtown San Diego's high-rises, the Coronado bridge, the Coronado Islands off Baja's coast, and the rumpled skyline of hills and mountains to the east. You'll maximize your learning on foot by taking advantage of docent-guided walks offered Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Getting to the Chula Vista Nature Center is easy. Exit Interstate 5 at E Street, turn west, park, and board a free shuttle bus that runs at approximately 20-minute intervals from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. (The nature center is closed on Mondays.) The San Diego Trolley's Chula Vista Bayfront Station is close to the shuttle pickup point as well. For more information, phone the center at 619-409-5900.

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Centennial Salute to San Diego’s Military, East Village Block Party, Birding Basics Class

Events March 29-March 30, 2024

Spy on the secret, subterranean life of a worm; ogle a heron or an egret; pet a bay ray or a leopard shark; get personal with pickleweed and cordgrass; sniff the sage-tinged salt breeze as you stroll an upland pathway along San Diego Bay. Enjoy this and more at the Chula Vista Nature Center, now in its 14th year of serving the public.

Dedicated in 1987, the nature center's 11,000-square-foot interpretive building overlooks the Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, which is the largest remaining parcel of saltwater marsh rimming San Diego Bay. This biologically superproductive swatch of land is emerging from a dingy past dominated by such abuses as chemical manufacturing, illegal dumping, and highway construction.

Sponsored
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Step inside the center and get acquainted with the lives of dozens of interesting creatures from air, sea, marsh, and upland domains. Interpretive panels, hands-on exhibits, aquaria, and terraria educate as well as entertain you. Just outside there's a 4500-gallon petting pool stocked with leopard sharks, sting rays, and bat rays. A new, expanded shark and ray pool will soon be under construction.

A bit farther afield you'll find a recently enlarged raptor enclosure, a new shorebird exhibit, and a clapper-rail exhibit, where a captive-breeding effort is now in progress to aid the survival of this endangered species of bird.

You can also stroll a mile or more on gravel-surfaced interpretive trails, spotting birds (220+ species recorded so far) and learning about the site's role in processing kelp for use in manufacturing gunpowder during World War I. You'll see the result of years of volunteer effort spent in the restoration of salt-marsh and upland habitats to conditions approximating those of prehistoric times. On clear days, the trailside view includes downtown San Diego's high-rises, the Coronado bridge, the Coronado Islands off Baja's coast, and the rumpled skyline of hills and mountains to the east. You'll maximize your learning on foot by taking advantage of docent-guided walks offered Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Getting to the Chula Vista Nature Center is easy. Exit Interstate 5 at E Street, turn west, park, and board a free shuttle bus that runs at approximately 20-minute intervals from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. (The nature center is closed on Mondays.) The San Diego Trolley's Chula Vista Bayfront Station is close to the shuttle pickup point as well. For more information, phone the center at 619-409-5900.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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