Giant had built the first dynamite manufacturing plant in the United States at a site known as Glen Canyon Park, which started up on March 19, 1868.

The facility's former tramway grades provide a network of nearly 20 kilometers (12 mi) of gently sloping paths for hiking, cycling and horse-riding.

The other relic of the park's industrial past is the large number of eucalyptus glades groves which were planted around the factory site to buffer against potential explosions.

Fresh and ocean waters mix at this point, so the marine life is rich; a leisure pier has been built at the end of promontory, replacing a former jetty used by the factories, and is a popular location for angling.

[7] The park is a mixture of grassland and woodland, with beaches and low cliffs, and it has a particularly rich bird life, including many ducks and shorebirds, and the endangered black rail.

Whittell Marsh is the site of one of the few remaining Native American shellmounds in the San Francisco Bay Area.

[8] The park is located on the Hayward Fault, whose exact position is marked by monuments erected by the United States Geological Survey.

During this time, the playground was resurfaced with wood fiber, equipment replaced with a net climber and a stand-up spinner, and a wheelchair-accessible path and picnic tables were added.

Dotson was able to organize residents of his own neighborhood in Richmond, Parchester, reminding them that the builder of their houses had promised they would always have access to the bay.

[9] [c] The Dotson Marsh restoration project is intended to adapt the PPS to a self-sustaining wetland complex that will include filtering polluted run-off water.