Fairy Photo shoot at the Butterfly Gate at Coyote Hills

Today I finished my latest purple flower faerie hoodie and then Darrell and I biked down to Coyote Hills in Newark to find the mysterious and secretive Butterfly Gate and take some photos.  

We’d seen photos and heard tale of the butterfly gate several times but had never tracked it down.  Cool public art in Fremont is a little scarce and so we really wanted to find it.  After much biking hither and thither, and much back-tracking and iPhone checking, and even stopping to ask a ranger for directions, we located it at the back of the Nectar Garden near the visitor center at Coyote Hills.

We walked through the Nectar garden looking for it (did you know there was a butterfly garden at Coyote Hills?  Me neither) and eventually found it.. well, we found the *back* of it, hidden in a little alcove way at the back of the garden.   It seems the front of this gate, with the glorious iron work and gorgeous sculpting, is on the outside, approachable only from the employee parking lot.  We tried to circle around but were thwarted by a whole bunch of “NO ADMITTANCE” signs.  Hmph.  So much for “public art”.  

Well, I guess I just don’t let things like that stop me.  We snuck back there anyway.   The gate was GORGEOUS.  We managed to shoot a few photos before being chased off by a ranger (for, of all things, not having a permit to take photos in the park, WTF?).   No matter.. it was a gorgeous day for a ride, and we were successful in our quest.  

Here is a little more info about the gate.. I’d love to know the history!