NATURE CONSERVANCY - CARRIZO PLAIN NATURAL AREA

CARRIZO PLAIN
NATURAL AREA

Entrance from Hwy 166
On Soda Lake Road

LOCATION

The Carrizo Plain Natural Area consists of 180,000 acres, and is located in eastern San Luis Obispo County, approximately 27 west of Interstate 5 (near Buttonwillow). This 8-mile-wide by 50-mile-long plain contains an arid basin bordered by the Temblor Mountains to the northeast, and the Caliente Mountains to the Southwest.

HISTORY

Human history in the Carrizo Plain began with California's native Americans. The striking pictographs on Painted Rock suggest that the Chumash and Yokuts tribes were the most common visitors to the area. Bedrock mortars are abundant, but the absence of homesites indicates that the Carrizo served primarily as a hunting ground, a trading route, and a meeting place.

The oldest European homestead on the plain was built in 1870, though cattle, sheep, and horses of Spanish rancho owners frequented the area earlier. Commercial agriculture was limited to dryland farming of wheat and barley, and grazing of sheep and cattle. Then the plain was purchased to preserve a remnant of the disppearing valley grassland ecosystem. Cattle are still part of the landscape, but grazing is carefully controlled to aid in the growth of native perennial grasses and shrubs.

GEOGRAPHY

Soda Lake is one of the central features of the plain. It has been formed by the pooling of run-off from the Tremblor and Caliente Mountains in a bowl created by the flexing of bedrock. Without an outlet, water from the lake evaporates, leaving behind residual sulphates and carbonates. The San Andreas Fault runs along the northeastern edge of the Carrizo Plain, creating a rift zone betwen it and the Elkhorn Plain, which also included in the Carrizo Plain Natural Area. Seismic activity along the fault has created striking geological features such as displaced streambeds and sheared hillsides. Tilting, flexing, folding, and eroding has created magnificent topography that is especially striking in the long shadows of wearly morning and late afternoon.

View of Caliente Range with Spring Wildflowers

NATURAL HISTORY

The major natural communities of the Carrizo Plain are valley sink shrub, valley saltbrush shrub, and non-native grassland. There are also pockets of Sonoran shrub and juniper/blue oak woodland. These communities include prime habitat for several threatened or endangered vertebrate species, particularly the blunt-nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia sila), giant kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ingens), San Joaquin antelope squirrel (Ammospermophilus nelsoni), and the San Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica). Also of interest are the tule elk and pronghorn antelope which have reintroduced in recent years after having been eliminated from the plain in the early 1900's.

Birdlife is abundant, especially in winter. Raptors such as golden eagles and red-tailed, ferruginous, and roughlegged hawks can often be seen soaring over the plain. In the past, California condors foraged across the area. One of the Carrizo's most popular attractions is the 2,000 to 10,000 sandhill cranes that winter near Soda Lake. Additionally, a number of other Pacific Flyway species stop to rest along the way.

The flora of the Carrizo can be spectacular. Inspringtime, late rains and vernal pools can nourish an array of colorful wildflowers. The elegant and rare California jewel flower (Caulanthus californicus) is found in only one place other than the Carrizo Plain. Other endangered plants found on the plain are Lost Hills saltbrush (Atriplex vallicola), Kern mallow (Eremalche kernesis, common name Parry's mallow), and Cogdon's eatonella (Lembertia cogdonii, common name Cogdon's woolly thread). Since the habitat types exemplified by those found on the plain are becoming even more scarce, the Carrizo Plain Natural Area represents an important reserve for native grasses and forbs. Like all natural systems, the season, amount and timing of rain, and other general climatic conditions determine what a visitor is likely to see. Most precipitation falls between November and April. Summer days are usually hot, with cool nights and low humidity. Winter nighttime temperatures are often below freezing, but days are usually warm. Exaggerated fluctuations of these factors affecting flora and fauna are to be expected. The Carrizo Plain is an unpredictable land of extremes.

For more about the Carrizo Plain Natural Area, check out the Sierra Club's Carrizo Plain Natural Area page, which is outstanding!

ACCESS

Salt Flats at South End of Soda Lake

Much of the Carrizo Plain Natural Area is open to the public. It may be reached by going south on Soda Lake Road from Highway 58, or north on Soda Lake Road from Highway 166. To view a map, click

The CPNA is open every day from sunrise to sunset. Individuals and groups are welcome to visit the CPNA. Contact in advance:

Carrizo Plain Natural Area
Guy L. Goodwin Education Center
P.O. Box 3087
California Valley, Calif. 93453
(805) 475-2131

MANAGEMENT

The Carrizo Plain Natural Area is managed cooperatively by the Nature Conservancy of California, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and the California Department of Fish and Game. This unique cooperation of public and private agencies to protect a threatened ecosystem is a model for future conservation efforts. To date, the Nature Conservancy has helped preserve over 5.5 million acres of natural lands in 50 states and Canada: islands, forests, marshes, streams, lakes, beaches, and prairies. In California alone, over 500,000 acres have been saved.

For information on visiting California Preserves, or becoming a Conservancy member, write or phone:
California Field Office
The Nature Conservancy
201 Mission Street, 4th Floor
San Francisco, Calif. 94105
(415) 777-0487

WEB SITES FOR OTHER CALIFORNIA
NATURE CONSERVANCY PRESERVES

Dos Palmas Oasis Preserve

The Coachella Valley Preserve

The Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve

This page provided by courtesy of: Jim Grattan 909-696-2500.

All photographics images on these pages were filmed using a Canon ES1000 videocamera, and digitalized with Snappy from Play, Inc..

Disclaimer: This page has no official relationship to The Nature Conservancy. Its keeper, Jim Grattan, provides this page solely as a convenience to Web users interested in knowing more about TNC-owned and/or managed preserves.

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Last update on: 09/01/03 at 12:15 PM PST.