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Redbud Chapter Field Trip Schedules

Spring 2010 trips and events

All field trips, outings and other events are free of charge and open to the public. Field trips are generally easy walks suitable for all ages unless otherwise noted. Most are from 1 to 3 miles in length. No dogs are allowed on any of the field trips. Remember to bring lunch, liquids, hat, sunscreen and comfortable walking shoes. Field guides, binoculars, cameras and hand-held lenses are optional but will greatly add to your enjoyment of the trip. Heavy to moderate rain will cancel most field trips. If in doubt about cancellation, or if you have additional questions or need more detailed directions, call the contact person listed for the trip in question or Roger McGehee at 530-265-4173. If rain is predicted, at 7:00 AM the day of a scheduled trip, a recording will be on his answering machine stating whether or not the field trip will take place.

Nearly 2,000 species and subspecies of wildflowers, conifers, ferns, shrubs, broadleaf trees and grasses grace the northern Sierra Nevada counties of Placer and Nevada more diversity than in all of the New England states combined! These two counties include nearly all the life zones of California and our field trips take you on a journey of our local diversity from the oak woodlands and vernal pools at the base of the west slope foothills, to the serpentine and gabbro formations of the middle elevations, granite outcrops, conifer forests and river canyons up and over the crest to the sagebrush scrub and montane meadows of the east slope of the Sierra Nevada.

Spring Season 2010

Independence Trail
Sunday, March 21, 1:00 PM
Leader: Roger McGehee

Meet in Nevada City at the Rood Center, on Highway 49, in front of the main building. This area usually has wonderful floral displays in March. With luck, it will have them again this year! I listed myself as leader, but other botanists will be present to help us identify the plants. Persons at all ages and levels of botanical experience are invited to attend. A prediction of heavy rain will not cancel this trip, but will turn it into a “rain walk” to view the water cascading down the streams and off the hillsides! We plan to return to the Rood Center by 4:30 PM.

Wildflowers at U.C. Foothill Research and Extension Center
Tuesday, April 6, 9:00 AM
Leader: Karen Callahan, Rare Plants Specialist

Meet at Safeway in downtown Grass Valley (105 Neal Street) in order to carpool to the field site. The University of California Foothill Research and Extension Center is located near Brownsville in Yuba County about 6 miles from Hwy 20 on a paved road. The UC Center consists of 6,000 acres of beautiful rolling grassland and Blue Oak woodland, mostly reserved for agricultural research. We’ll visit the Porter Creek nature trail, an easy mile-long loop near the Research Station’s offices with bedrock mortars and a mix of native and invasive plants. Then we’ll have lunch while enjoying the view of the South Yuba River’s Timbuctoo Bend, elevation 300 feet, and look for interesting plants along the river. The Research Station is developing this historic area into a nature education center, open by reservation only. If you wish to meet us there, visit their website for directions: http://groups.ucanr.org/sierrafoothill/. We will arrive at the Research Station about 9:45 AM. A prediction of heavy rain will cancel this field trip. Persons at all ages and levels of botanical experience are invited to attend. We plan to return to Safeway by 3:30 PM. Bring lunch and water.

More Field Trip Information . . .

All of our field trips are open to the public and are free of charge. Bring water, lunch/snack, hand lens, wildflower book, and sun protection and/or rain gear, as needed. Children are warmly welcomed, but please arm them with a whistle! No pets are allowed on any of our field trips. We suggest ride sharing, as parking space at most trail heads is limited. We also suggest that you contribute some money to the driver for gas—perhaps $5 for less than 40 miles round-trip, and $10 for more than 40 miles round-trip. Unless stated otherwise, our trips are easy. We travel slowly and stop to view, identify, talk about, and enjoy each plant species. Our trips are often led by more than one botanist.
For most of our trips we will meet at the Rood Center on Highway 49 in Nevada City, in front of the main building—NOT at the library. See map below. We will then form car pools and drive to the trail head. In many cases you can meet us at the trail head if this is more convenient for you.
Our book Wildflowers of Nevada and Placer Counties, California will be available for purchase at the meeting place before each field trip. Retail price is $29.95 plus tax; Redbud Chapter members (including brand new ones) are entitled to a 15% discount. We can accept cash and checks. This book is very helpful on all of our field trips!
For more information call Roger at 530-265-4173 or email him at rogm@SBCglobal.net. At 7:00 AM in the morning of the trip, you can call his answering machine for updates — especially if the weather looks “iffy.”

 

(If this info is stale, sometimes it helps to see the current newsletter (if it's not stale) for field trip information.)

Other Groups' Field Trips

The Sacramento Valley chapter of CNPS may have field trips.

Last updated
March 14, 2010