right|thumb|View across wetlands of the Coyote Hills park from the hills
Coyote Hills Regional Park is a regional park encompassing nearly 978 acres of land and administered by the East Bay Regional Park District. The park, which was dedicated to public use in 1967, is located in Fremont, California, US, on the southeast shore of the San Francisco Bay. The Coyote Hills themselves are a small range of hills at the edge of the bay; though not reaching any great height, they afford views of the bay, three of the trans-bay bridges (Dumbarton Bridge, San Mateo Bridge, and the Bay Bridge), the cities of San Francisco and Oakland, the Peninsula Range of the Santa Cruz Mountains and Mount Tamalpais. In addition to the hills themselves, the park encloses a substantial area of wetlands.
There are a number of archaeological sites within the park, preserving evidence of habitation by Native Americans of the Ohlone group of tribes, including shellmounds. Access to these sites is not allowed for casual visitors, but they can be visited by arrangement.
There is a substantial network of hiking trails in the park, most of them also available to equestrians, and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) to cyclists. Most of the trails are wide fireroads that go around the hills and the marshes, and one fireroad that runs north–south through the hills ridge. There are few narrow trails which are off limits to bikers and equestrians. These trails connect to others in the east bay, and the San Francisco Bay Trail passes through the park. Cross country meets for local schools are held occasionally in the park. The waters to the south and west of the park form part of the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, and a great deal of wildlife can be seen from the park trails.
History
The East Bay area's original inhabitants were the Ohlone Native American people. These native people were hunters and gatherers whose skills enabled them to live well off the land's natural bounty, where a large staple of their diet consisted of acorns. A great number of Ohlone native descendants still live in the Newark/Fremont/Union City area. At Coyote Hills Regional Park, much of this rich wetland is preserved, along with 2,000-year-old Tuibun Ohlone Indian shellmound sites.
The Nectar Garden is a beautiful garden located near the Visitor Center. At this present time, the garden is open to the public from Wednesday to Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4p.m. Many educational programs are provided in the garden during the year.