Santa Rosa Ecological Reserve

RichardK · Post by **RichardK** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 7:08 pm

We hiked the Santa Rosa Ecological Reserve Saturday. The last time we were here was maybe 15 years ago. What jumps right out at you is that this place is GREEN. None of the drab, brown hills of the OC wilderness parks. The last big storm dumped a bunch of rain in this area and it shows. The country is beautiful with rolling grasslands and hills dotted with old oaks.

There were a surprising number of wildflowers given the dry conditions elsewhere.

The vernal ponds have some water. A ranger told us it was the first water in 3 years.

Two original adobes remain at the Santa Rosa Ranch. The Moreno adobe sits beneath an oak estimated to be 300 to 600 years old.

Of course, no hike is complete without a coyote sighting.

Post by **tekewin** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 9:52 pm

RichardK,

That is a fantastic photo of the coyote. And cool green stuff of which I am not familiar. Thanks for sharing.

davantalus · Post by **davantalus** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 9:58 pm

Good stuff! Looked great on my massive display.

Post by **Uncle Rico** » Mon Apr 14, 2014 6:41 am

Wow, super shots Richard. That oak by the adobe is spectacular.

JerryN · Post by **JerryN** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 6:04 am

Nice pictures, thanks

what trail were you hiking on? I have wanted to get over there for some time.

RichardK · Post by **RichardK** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 2:15 pm

JerryN - I just noticed your question. The preserve is a network of trails. A map is a must. It can be downloaded here:

http://www.rivcoparks.org/education/san ... serve-map/

Note that south is up on this map.