Nature Walk & Nocturnal Black Light Exploration: Walker Ranch – CNC 2026

From daylight to dark — explore Walker Ranch Park by day, then discover what comes out at night under UV black lights. No experience needed.

sits at the confluence of Panther Springs Creek and Salado Creek, where thousands of years of human and natural history overlap. It's a place that rewards a closer look — and after sunset, it gets even more interesting.

On Saturday, April 25, join Robert Doyal, David Goree, and Tracey Burke, Texas Master Naturalists, for an evening that unfolds in two parts:

Nature Walk & ID Session · 5:00–7:00 PM
We'll head out from the trailhead for a walk along the trail to the outdoor classroom, using the free iNaturalist app to spot, photograph, and document what we find along the way. At the outdoor classroom, we'll stop to look at what we documented, talk through how to identify it, and learn what makes a strong observation. No experience needed. If you can point a phone camera at a bug, you're qualified.

Nocturnal Black Light Exploration · 7:30–11:00 PM
When the sun goes down and the park goes dark, a completely different world wakes up. We'll set up UV black lights near the bridge by the trailhead, and as the night deepens, moths, beetles, and insects you'd never see during the day will start showing up. You'll get to photograph, identify, and document them up close. This is hands-on, and it's unlike anything you've done on a nature walk before. A flashlight, headlamp, or phone selfie light will help you get a closer look and better photos.

Come for both, or drop in for the part that interests you most.

This walk is part of the City Nature Challenge, a worldwide event where people in hundreds of cities spend four days discovering and documenting the wildlife around them. Everything you photograph becomes part of a global biodiversity dataset — and helps scientists better understand what lives right here across our 12-county San Antonio Metro Area. That moth drawn to the light? That's data. The beetle you'd never have spotted without a UV glow? That's a contribution. You're not just going for a walk — you're mapping what lives here.

• Saturday, April 25 · 5:00 PM –11:00 PM
• Walker Ranch Historic Landmark Park (12603 West Avenue)
• Easy walking
• Registration is required — please RSVP through Eventbrite to save your spot.

Download the iNaturalist app and create a free account — it takes about a minute and means we can start exploring right away.

• Please arrive by 4:45 PM (for the walk) or 7:15 PM (for the black light)
• Bring water, sunscreen, and a flashlight, phone selfie light, or headlamp for after dark
• Wear closed-toed shoes and dress for the weather
• Great for adults and older kids (14+)
• Please leave pets at home
• Park at the Walker Ranch trailhead lot

This event is entirely outside and will be cancelled if there is inclement weather or unsafe conditions. If that happens, we'll notify everyone registered through Eventbrite via email.

Find more City Nature Challenge events happening across the San Antonio Metro Area, a 12-county region, at CNC-SA.org

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Robert Doyal