In 2022, I began a project to hike and photograph all 73 parks in the East Bay Regional Park District system. Over the years, I'd fallen into a habit of returning to the same handful of parks over and over again. And while I love my regular spots, this project is about exploring further to appreciate more. I'm hopeful that the images I post will inspire others to take advantage of the beautiful public spaces in their own backyards.

Of course, these lands have history. It's important to acknowledge the Native people who lived in this area before the parks existed and that the land is of sacred importance to local Indigenous communities today. A couple of starting points for further exploration: a booklet from the Park District titled, "Native Peoples of the East Bay" and Native Land Digital offers an interactive map to discover the indigenous communities of North America and beyond.