Mussel Rock Habitat Restoration – 9am to 11am

January 27th, 2024	February 24th, 2024	March 23rd, 2024
April 20th, 2024 – Earth Day	May 25th, 2024	June 22nd, 2024
July 27nd, 2024	August 24th, 2024	September 21st, 2024 – Coastal Cleanup Day
October 26th, 2024	November 23rd, 2024	December 28th, 2024

Please note that the cleanups happening for Earth Day and Coastal Cleanup Day happen off schedule.

About Mussel Rock Habitat Restoration in Daly City: Want to help in developing a coastal native plants garden at Mussel Rock Beach? Now is that time. Frequented mainly by locals, Mussel Rock offers stunning vistas that are home to visits by whales and coastal bees alike.

Site Captains: Myrna, Julie

Time: 4th Saturday of the month from 9 to 11 am. Check our monthly calendar for exact dates

Where to Meet: Car park located at the end of Westline Drive. Drive north past the junction of Skyline Drive, avoiding the other Westline Drive that goes up a steep hill. Our team will be waiting for you at the back left corner of the car park, adjacent to the beach cleanup meeting space.

Weather: Rain cancels though light rain/drizzle does not. Please dress appropriately.

Supplies: Volunteers are invited to bring their own favorite planting tools, a shovel or hoe, and reusable garden/work gloves. To help even further, volunteers can water the plants by bringing 1 gal jugs/bottles of water to help the plants get through the dry seasons.

Focus Area – October 26th (Daly City’s “Make a Difference Day”): Volunteers will plant and water along the woodchipped area behind the beach cleanup staging area. (Optional) Volunteers will soil prep the gravel area at the entrance to the Mussel Rock parking lot. Please bring an extra bottle of water or two if you’re interested in the follow-up watering work. Habitat restoration guides will be on-hand to guide you through the day’s activities.

Focus Area – November 23rd: Volunteers will plant coastal native plants at the woodchipped area behind the beach cleanup staging area and at the gravel area at the entrance to the Mussel Rock parking lot. Please bring an extra bottle of water or two if you’re interested in the follow-up watering work. Habitat restoration guides will be on-hand to guide you through the day’s activities.

Learn about our local habitat heroes such as the Coastal Buckwheat and coastal bees.

Interested in what native plant species have been planted at this site? Want to learn about what can grow in your backyard? Check out our coastal plant lists and planting tips for more info.

Litter: The team picks up litter as we find it, although this is not the main focus of habitat restoration.
Restrooms: Public restrooms are not available.

Special Regulations:
Dogs: Permitted on leash on walkways however they are not invited onto habitat restoration sites. Be mindful of the native plant installations in the woodchipped areas behind the beach cleanup space. Please be responsible and pick up your dog waste.

Fires or BBQ grills and glass containers: Prohibited.

Fireworks: Not recommended.Wildlife & Habitat Protection: There is no post and cable fencing at this site to protect sensitive plants and wildlife from errant canines or hominids. Protect vulnerable native plants by walking slowly and gently around new plant installations (all found in woodchipped areas).

Site Captain: Meet Myrna Faulds. An active volunteer and member, she began cleaning at our beaches during a life-changing work volunteer day in 2012. After a year volunteering at a variety of PBC beach cleanups, she joined the Mussel Rock Stars at their monthly cleanups and now helps with cleanup and habitat restoration activities at Mussel Rock Park. Believing that the worst effects of climate change can be diminished in significant, impactful ways by the environmental work done in the next 5 to 10 years in particular, Myrna has made a commitment to establish local coastal habitats rife in native plant biodiversity while also looking at developing opportunities for native plant-based erosion control along the coastside bluffs and shoreline. Volunteers of any age can participate in habitat restoration. The Thornton Vista team is often joined by CNPS-YB chapter members in addition to neighborhood groups and individuals.

More about Mussel Rock: Under the dedicated care of beach cleanup enthusiasts, volunteers at this site have dealt with an ongoing barrage of trash resulting in part from the decommissioned transfer station. With assistance from Daly City Dept of Public Works, Mussel Rock Park has been a recipient of significant amounts of wood chips that indeed have helped stave off dominance by the invasive plants along the western bluff. The center island found at the entrance to the carpark is covered in ice plants, harboring a single bumblebee pollinator. With your help we can turn this into a native plant habitat oasis for native plants and pollinators alike. Please check dates above to see when habitat restoration activities are scheduled to occur. The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) will be on hand to provide invaluable advisory help alongside generous native plant donations. Restoration at this site involves planting lupines, coastal buckwheat, and more; for a full listing check out our Mussel Rock Beach plants list! Coastal habitat restoration aims to take advantage of long, deep roots specially evolved in California native plants to draw water to the growing plants in times of drought as well as to assist in stabilizing this very unstable portion of the coast. Through continued habitat restoration we aim to maintain, increase and sustain local biodiversity. Native plants are believed to host up to 400% more insects by mass as a food source than non-native plants. Restoration of our local native plants is vital to a healthy ecosystem and at Mussel Rock Park Coastal Garden involves protecting the land, pollinators, and wildlife. In Daly City, restoration is critical for preserving habitats for the threatened Mission Blue butterfly and coastal bee populations along the Pacific coast.

Would You Like to Join Us? To make sure we bring the right amount of supplies, to be more efficient and conserve paper, please complete our online form. It will only take you a few seconds. Sign up here!