Friends of Hoyt Park, Inc..

Welcome to Hoyt Park

Volunteer work day Saturday April 23!

Come celebrate Earth Day by joining the Friends of Hoyt Park Work Day.

We will meet in the main parking lot off Regent Street at 10 AM on Saturday April 23.
We will be pulling invasive Dames Rocket and Garlic Mustard. Removing these non-native invasive species from the Park will give our native wildflowers a chance to thrive.

The Friends of Hoyt Park will provide trash bags, light refreshments, and plant identification information
Dress for the weather, wear sturdy shoes, and work gloves if you have them
Come on out and meet some of your neighbors and get to know the Park better as Spring finally arrives (?!).

Contact Tim Astfalk at timastfalk@yahoo.com if you have any questions.

Great article about a dedicated friend of Hoyt Park

Civil engineer is decades-long friend to Near West Side conservation park

We had a great Sledding Party on Feb. 6, 2022!

Each year the Friends of Hoyt Park hold a winter sledding event. We had a great turnout on February 6th for our 2022 Family Sledding Day. It was a beautiful winter afternoon with well over 100 attendees. The sledding hill by the Main Shelter was fast and in great condition for all sorts of “sleds”. There were old fashioned toboggans, blowup snow donuts, plastic saucers, snow boards and runner sleds. The Friends provided hot chocolate and cider as well as a warm fire in the Hoyt Park Main Shelter. A big thank you to Metcalfe’s Market for helping to provide the refreshments and to the neighborhoods adjacent to the park for spreading the word.

Planning Ahead

Sunday, July 31st, 10AM-3PM, Friends of Hoyt Park Annual business meeting in the Main Shelter. Please put it on your calendars. Details will be determined over the next couple of months

Interesting programs from past annual meetings

If you missed the annual meeting in April 2019, you can learn about Snapshot WI, at this website

This program places motion activated cameras on public and private land throughout WI for wildlife monitoring. It is a volunteer-based project for and is a collaboration between the Wisconsin DNR and several partners

We had a GREAT evening with the bats at the 2018 annual meeting!

Thank you Jennifer Redell!

Did you realize that when you meet a bat face to face, it is really cute! Beautiful brown eyes, very attentive expression, cute wiggling ears . . .

Additional information: The Wisconsin Bat Program

Information about the UW-Madison study of Urban Red Foxes and Coyotes

This was the subject of the program at our annual meeting in April 2016 and the study is continuing in the Hoyt Park neighborhood.

Summer Photos of Ready Prairie!

ready prairie summer

Membership Renewal

If you have not done so yet, please renew your membership to FHP or become a member using our membership form. Your volunteer and financial support helps maintain the award winning activities of FHP so that you may enjoy a great neighborhood park. We encourage you to check the box for emailing newsletters so more of your donation goes to Park projects.

Holiday Giving

Make your generosity count this holiday season. Please give to The Friends of Hoyt Park. All donations are tax deductible. Mail to: FHP, Inc., P O Box 5542, Madison WI 53705-0542.

View Map

This is a social media site for biological observations. Record plants and animals you observe in the park to share with others or to ask for help with identification, and see what others have observed. The thumbnail photos are some of the recent observations.

What is iNaturalist?

Getting started using it

Map of Hoyt Park

The map will be available at the information kiosk in the park by the main parking lot, but you may also download a copy of the pdf file here (updated July 23, 2015)