In my free time, you’ll find me out in nature, contemplating my senses in these surroundings with my notebook and pen pouch of art supplies. This quiet practice is called nature journaling and it’s easy to see why it’s growing in popularity. In the fast-moving world of the Bay Area, taking time to slow down, reflect, and really see the finer details feels especially grounding. While journaling outdoors, you might consider the delicate veins of a leaf, the scuffed imprint of animal tracks, the way fog lingers in a valley before lifting. Nature journaling pulls me away from screens and into close observation. It replaces urgency with curiosity and turns an ordinary walk into an act of attention. In fact, it’s perhaps the most “present” I’ve ever felt.
STEWARDING THROUGH OBSERVATION
That same instinct to observe and notice things shapes my work at POST. As a manager in the Land Department, I oversee our conservation easement program, helping steward 45 easements that protect thousands of acres of natural and working lands. From windswept coastal terraces to redwood forests and family farms, each property carries its own character and commitments. Every year, we visit them all — walking the boundaries, observing changes, documenting conditions, connecting with landowners — ensuring that we’re upholding our promises to steward the landscapes we love.
Whether I’m parked in a sun patch with my personal nature journal or monitoring conserved land making a mental journal entry, the practice is similar at heart: slow down, look closely, and let the landscape tell its story. What’s that phrase… stop and smell the roses? Redwoods?
Curious about conservation easements and how they protect the places we love? Here’s a solid overview, written by yours truly.
TIPS FOR NATURE JOURNALING
There’s no single “right” way to keep a nature journal. That said, there are a few simple practices that can help you begin.
1. Have some consistency. Start each entry with the same grounding details: the date, time, place, and weather.
These basics create a gentle structure and help anchor your observations in a specific moment. It also helps to bring you back and reminisce when you flip through past pages. From there, give yourself permission to let go of rules. Nature journaling isn’t about perfection; it’s about curiosity and details that stand out to YOU.
2. Pause and reflect.
Before you put pencil to paper, pause for a breath and ask yourself: What made me stop here? Maybe it was the intricate pattern of petals on a wildflower, the quick flash of a butterfly wing, an audience of birds overhead, or the way sunlight pooled across the landscape. Follow whatever caught your attention. That spark of interest is the best place to begin.
3. Fragments are more than fine.
Your journal page doesn’t need to hold a perfectly rendered, scientific illustration. It can hold fragments—a close-up sketch of a leaf beside a few notes about the shifting sky, a quick outline of a bird feather or maybe a flight pattern you noticed, a treeline. Let your work be expressive rather than exact. In fact, some of the most meaningful pages are those that feel alive with snippets of a scene that wouldn’t make a full entry on their own. However, as a whole on the page, the snippets bring you back to that moment.
4. Engage all your senses as you observe.
What do you hear? Is it the hum of traffic in the distance or the rustle of grasses and birds overhead? Nature is all around, even in our urban landscapes. Can you feel the air moving and is it warm, cool, or damp? What scents drift toward you? And what does this moment stir in your thoughts or memories? How did the people before us use this land, right in this very spot? Write those reflections directly on the page. They’re just as important as what you see.
5. Give yourself freedom in how you fill the space.
Blend colors, add arrows and labels, circle details, jot thoughts in the margins. There’s no required layout and no gold star for neatness. Bring whatever materials inspire you: pencil, pen, colored pencils, watercolor. Different tools can help you notice and capture different details, expanding the way you see.
6. Keep paying attention.
Most importantly, remember that nature journaling is about paying attention. You don’t have to draw everything in front of you. You just have to notice something–anything. In slowing down long enough to truly observe, you begin to build a deeper connection with the landscape. That’s where the real magic happens.
TURNING OBSERVATION INTO ART WITH EPACENTER
Last fall, we partnered with EPACENTER to host a nature journaling field trip at Bair Island, bringing a group of students out onto the landscape to experience this practice firsthand. Alongside Valeria Otazu, our Community Liaison Fellow, I had the opportunity to guide students on how to slow down, observe closely, and begin translating what they noticed onto the page. The goal was to lean into their curiosity and choose a medium to document what they noticed. Some students sketched in their notebooks, others jotted down thoughts or patterns they observed, and a few captured moments through photos.
“We did a nature journaling event with EPACENTER because nurturing a love for art and nature can cultivate the next generation of environmental stewards,” Valeria shared. That intention carried through the entire experience. After spending time exploring POST-protected land, students reflected on what they saw and felt, beginning to understand the balance between the natural and built environments that shape our region. These kinds of experiences contribute to placemaking, a community-based approach that informs our regional trail planning work.
SHARING REFLECTIONS WITH COMMUNITY THROUH AN ART EXHIBIT
What made the experience especially meaningful was seeing those moments of observation turn into something more. In collaboration with EPACENTER, students transformed their field trip reflections into artwork for the exhibit, “Field Trip: An Environmental Exploration Nourishing Wellness through Nature and Art.” Through multi-sensory displays, students shared reflections on their time outdoors and communitcated their perspectives through creative expression. As Jennifer Ifil-Ryan, Director of Visual Arts Programs at EPACENTER, shared, the goal was not only to create art, but to expand students’ sense of place. The experience helped connect them to something larger, offering a new perspective on the natural spaces around them.
The exhibit became a multi-sensory reflection of that process, showing not just what students saw, but how the landscape made them feel. It was a reminder that nature journaling goes beyond drawing: it builds curiosity, mindfulness, and a deeper connection to the places around us.
MONITORING & JOURNALING HELP US OBSERVE
Over time, I’ve come to see monitoring and journaling as two sides of the same practice. One is structured and accountable, rooted in long-term stewardship. The other is open-ended and reflective, rooted in curiosity and connection, honoring the impulse to press pause and look around. Both ask me to slow down and pay attention. And in a world that often moves too fast, that act of careful noticing feels like its own form of conservation. It’s a reminder that protecting land begins with truly seeing it.
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About Post
Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) protects open space on the Peninsula and in the South Bay for the benefit of all. Since its founding in 1977, POST has been responsible for saving more than 97,000 acres as permanently protected land in San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. Learn more
