DIFFICULTY: EASY 1 mile (1.6 km) or EASY 3.2 miles (5.2 km)
PLANT KNOWLEDGE: Beginner to Novice, Professionals always welcome
ACCESS: Open to all, no charge
[Light Rain / Fog Ok, Heavy Rain Will Cancel]
Ramona Grasslands was recently on the trip list, where we headed up into the restricted back-country portion of the Preserve in a late fall trip where the best features were the birds along the way. Now we're headed to the Wildflower loops that are open year round. Since there's little to no shade on this trip, let's get out there before it starts to heat up too much!
There are two great options starting from the parking lot on Highland Valley Rd. The quick, one mile trip we take altogether goes up the Wildflower loop that meets back with the main trail with quick return to the parking. If you stay on with us, we'll head up through coastal sage scrub and a small patch of oak woodlands for a slightly more athletic 3.2 mile loop (total). Of course the grasslands are the great feature here, where early annuals and perennial herbs will be just starting the bloom season. While I won't sugar coat that the trip will partly focus on the many invasive species. The native species like Red maids (Calandrinia menziesii), Miners lettuce (Claytonia sps), Goldfields (Lasthenia sps), Fringed linanthus (Linanthus dianthiflorus), fiddlenecks (Amsinckia sps), California Peony (Paeonia californica), Bush rue (Cneoridium dumosum), and Mission manzanita (Xylococcus bicolor) will hopefully make up for that.
Read more and RSVP here…