November 2025 - River Park Roundup | | Support Your River Park this Giving Tuesday | | When you donate to the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy, you’re not just supporting a park—you’re creating real, measurable change in our community. Your generosity fuels the projects and programs that keep our green spaces healthy, accessible, and thriving. Because of supporters like you, this year we have: | | Educated & mobilized 12,000+ participants | | Provided 6,000 hours of stewardship | | Removed over 53,000 pounds of litter | | Consider donating this Giving Tuesday! | Your donation helps nurture the beauty, connection, and care that make our park such a special place all year long. | |
| | | | This news clip from NBC shows folks crowding around the Los Gatos Creek in Campbell to watch the migration of Salmon as they find their way to spawning grounds. The Los Gatos Creek flows into the Guadalupe River. | | | In previous years there have been around 20 salmon who have traversed the rivers, this year there is an estimated amount of 600 salmon! This is evidence of nature recovering and proof that our efforts of keeping our waterways clean is making substantial differences! Don’t stop here, let's continue the fight to restore nature. Join us for our monthly trail clean ups! | | Monarch caterpillars have been spotted at our Visitor Center! | | Did you know? Female monarchs lay their tiny eggs one at a time, often several per plant, only on milkweed leaves. The larvae will hatch within 3-5 days. The caterpillar will then go through 5 different lifecycle stages and sizes, called instars, every 1-3 days as the caterpillar eats, sheds its skin, and becomes larger and larger. Once the 5th instar has been reached it takes about 3-5 days before it starts to prepare to pupate. | | | | The caterpillar will curl on itself into what is often called a “J Hook” and begin the process of splitting its exoskeleton and creating its chrysalis. This is the beginning of the process of metamorphism. After roughly 8-15 days, the new monarch butterfly will emerge or “eclose”. After eclosing, the monarch hangs still and pumps fluid from its abdomen into its wings to uncrumple them and prepare to take off. It takes about an hour before it is ready for flight. This whole process from egg to eclose can take anywhere from 20-35 days depending on the temperature and light conditions it is exposed to. Want to see monarchs in your yard? Plant pesticide-free native milkweeds in your yard and they will come for the feast! | | Volunteering at the River Park | | A Heartfelt Thank You to Our Volunteers | | As we gather to celebrate the season of gratitude, we want to extend our warmest thanks to each and every one of our incredible volunteers. Your dedication, compassion, and willingness to give your time make a meaningful difference in our community every single day. | | Because of you, we continue to grow, to serve, and to build the strong community we have to keep the Guadalupe River Park going. Whether you lend a helping hand caring at our front desk, support our events, or show up for our garden workdays, your impact is felt far and wide. This season, we are especially grateful for your generosity of spirit, commitment to our mission, positivity and kindness that you bring to our team. | | | | Thank you for sharing your gifts with us. We truly could not do what we do without you. Wishing you and your loved ones a warm, joyful, and restful Thanksgiving. | | We also want to share that we are still offering volunteer opportunities throughout the season. Please feel free to check for updates and new openings through our sign-up forms below. | | All of these community workday offerings require volunteers to pre-register. Click the workday you're interested in to RSVP today! | | Maintain and preserve your River Park while building stronger connections! | |
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The Following Programs Are Paused for the winter season:
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Yoga and Zumba in the River Park: This program will return again in the spring. We hope you will join us in the fun and relaxation!
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Animal Encounters at the PlayGarden: As the seasons get colder our snakes and a few of our reptile friends begin to brumate, the reptile and amphibian equivalent of hibernation for warm-blooded animals. Our animal encounter program will be on pause until the seasons start to warm back up, in order to respect our animal’s brumation period.
| | | |  | Sunday, Dec 14th - 10:30am to 1:30pm | |
Car, bike or light rail? It’s a race to the
50-yard line of Levis Stadium from
Downtown San Jose - the perfect vehicle to showcase the incredible efficiency and fun of San Jose’s bike trail network linking the Guadalupe River Trail directly to the stadium, as well as the carefree ease of VTA’s light rail system.
| | | Binoculars will be provided. | | Audubon Christmas Bird Count | Sunday, Dec 14th - 8:00am to 12:00pm | A great opportunity for people who have no birding experience but would like to help count birds for this annual event. All ages welcome. Participants will meet at the Visitor Center & taking on Guadalupe River Park watching for birds along the Guadalupe River and surrounding areas from 880 to Julian Street. | | WORLD CUP 2026 DRAW: VIEWING PARTY (Dec 5, 2025 at 9:00 am.) CREEKSIDE hosts a viewing party for the WORLD CUP DRAW at Hapa’s Brewing Company at 59 Barack Obama Blvd. Enjoy World Cup themed activities and stations such as a themed koozie craft station by Local Color, special production of pet bandanas and limited edition canine giveaways by RFRD Canine Recreation Center, plus a vintage sports themed rummage sale & more. Open for all ages. Pets are welcome. LEARN MORE >> | |
Winter Wonderland x Culture Night Market Shop, sip, & celebrate! Winter Wonderland Culture Night Market hits San Jose! This exciting event will take place over two weekends, from November 29th to Jan 3rd, right next to the beloved Christmas in the Park at Cesar Chavez Plaza.
LEARN MORE >>
| NIRVANA SOUL: Open Mic Nights (every Friday, 6-9PM @315 S 1st St.) Sign up at the door and perform your music, poetry, and comedy, or just stop by to grab a coffee and listen to our local talent. Follow us on ig @nsafterdark to stay up to date. LEARN MORE >> | | | | |
