A Guide
to the
Interpretive Trail
at the
Landels-Hill
Big Creek Reserve
Introduction
Brief History & Purpose
Welcome to the Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve, one of more than
three dozen outdoor laboratories owned by the University of California
Natural Reserve System. The property begins at the ocean’s surface, ends at
3,000-foot-high mountain peaks, and encompasses 4,200 acres of Big Sur
wilderness. Steep cliffs flank the coast, blending into hills that host diverse
plant life. Slopes descend sharply into canyons etched by perennial creeks.
The interpretive trail, a three-mile looped path on which you are about to
embark, winds through the reserve’s central grounds and crosses most of
its habitats.
This land served ancient Native Americans, early twentieth-century
homesteaders, and private ranchers before the Nature Conservancy
acquired it in 1977. Shortly afterward, the property was transferred to the
University of California and dedicated to scientific purposes. It features a
research cabin, a small laboratory/library, three campgrounds, and ocean
access for boats.
The region’s ecological diversity affords unique on-site research and
educational opportunities for scientists, teachers, and students. Its pristine
condition reveals how nature itself adapts to changes, apart from human
disturbances. This panoply of research, from mountain ridge to coastal
waters, embodies the central purpose of the reserve system: to advance
understanding of natural phenomena while conserving biodiversity and
promoting land stewardship.
We encourage you to think like a naturalist while walking the trail.
Observe shifts in the landscape, interpret the ecological patterns, and form
hypotheses along your journey. Refer to this guide for explanations.
Mind your surroundings. Poison oak grows throughout the reserve. If you
brush against the plant, be sure to wash your clothes soon after. The hike is
strenuous, with steep climbs and sudden temperature changes from fog to
sun (ranging from 55°-95°F). Dress accordingly and bring plenty of water.
The trip can take three to six hours, but there are many places to rest and
eat along the way.
Because the reserve is undisturbed and secluded, you may catch a glimpse
of nature’s rarer scenes. Incredible birds, such as the great blue heron,
sometimes bathe in the creek. Many guests see condors overhead; some
have even seen an elusive puma. Keep your eyes open and your mind keen.
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The Landels-Hill Big
Creek Reserve is a
jewel within the UC
Natural Reserve System. The system’s
mission is to help us
understand and wisely manage Earth and
its ecosystems by supporting university-level teaching, research,
and public service at
protected natural areas throughout California. Each reserve
serves as an outdoor
environmental laboratory: a place to study
redtailed hawk
natural processes firsthand. UC faculty and students benefit from learning about these processes
both in the lecture hall and in the field.
The Nature Conservancy purchased the land with the financial support of
the Save-the-Redwoods League, Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Hill, the William
and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation,
and the University of California. Other donors include Mr. and Mrs. Kurt
E. Appert, Mr. George F. Gamble, the William M. Hume Foundation, the
Marshall Steel Sr. Foundation, the C. Edward and Edith Strobel Trust,
Mr. Charles Taubman, Mr. and Mrs. John Warriner, and several past property owners.
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the water’s composition often reflect disturbances in neighboring areas.
Because it traverses such variable terrain, the creek is in a constant state of
ecological flux.
Many animals have adapted to life in this creek, such as steelhead trout.
The trout hatch here, then either settle in freshwater or migrate to the
ocean. Ocean-going trout (steelhead) can weigh up to 55 pounds, while
their freshwater counterparts (rainbow trout) rarely reach such sizes. Both
strains return to their birthplace to spawn by scraping little nests, called
redds, in the gravel of the streambed.
Watch as grassy slopes above the creek yield to large outcrops of sedimentary and volcanic rock, evidence of the active tectonics that shape Big Sur.
Holes and clefts in creek-side cliffs and boulders provide nesting sites for
North America’s only aquatic songbird: the American Dipper.
The stocky gray dipper, roughly the size of a sparrow, spends its entire life
along the stream. With nests so close to the water, they leave only to forage
and breed. They flit through this habitat year-round, bobbing and diving
between the creek’s submerged crevices while hunting for aquatic insects
and fish eggs.
Big Creek & Devil’s Creek
From the parking lot, follow the sound of rushing water. The road leading
into the canyon ahead, first made in 1930, runs alongside Big Creek. This
creek is the area’s third-largest outflow to the ocean, surpassed only by Big
Sur River and Little Sur River (both to the north). All three waterways
drain the region’s main coastal watersheds.
The water flowing through Big Creek began its descent on the crest of the
pristine Santa Lucia Mountains. Downstream, it flows under Big Creek
Bridge on Highway 1 into a 30-square-mile marine reserve, one of the
state’s oldest marine protected areas. Together, the watershed and marine
environments are protected from human impact—the first such setting in
the United States.
Bigleaf maple, white alder, California bay, and coastal redwood flourish
on either side of Big Creek. The waterway is a living conduit between the
mountains, the ocean, and the reserve’s many ecosystems. Changes in
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American dipper
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steelhead trout
Creeks (cont’d)
After about half a mile, the path reaches a signed junction on your left,
where a footbridge crosses the stream. This point marks the confluence
of the reserve’s two major creeks. To the left is Big Creek. To the right is
its tributary, Devil’s Creek. Together, the two drain nearly 24 square miles
along the westward slopes of the Santa Lucia Mountains.
Coarse gray sediment coats the bed of Devil’s Creek. When the mountain’s
carbonate-rich groundwater is exposed to air, chemical reactions form
this travertine crust (a type of limestone) in the creek. The crust harbors
aquatic insect larvae, algae, and mosses. It consists of calcium carbonate,
the same compound used by marine invertebrates in their shells.
As the trail ascends beside Big Creek, redwoods tower over the water. Some
trees have toppled into the river; elsewhere, large boulders have dislodged
from the slope, crashed into trees, and settled in the creek. These obstacles
often create gravel beds upstream.
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Some of the redwoods’ limbs are dark and bare, signs of past fires that
blazed through the reserve. Fire-resistant bark protects the trees’
vascular system, the inner tissue that transports water and nutrients. Even
after the outer layers are charred, redwoods still pump nutrients high into
their branches.
Many of the reserve’s fires occurred naturally; pre-historic Native
Americans and homesteaders in the late 1800s deliberately set others to
clear land. They lit fires to burn the underbrush, leaving only mature trees
behind. Some remnants of their presence still linger in the reserve.
An old cattle gate, once used to prevent herds from roaming into the lower
canyon, now rests against a cluster of trees. Various redwood stumps from
the days of small-scale logging stand beside the path. Some stumps already
show new growth and may, eventually, produce massive adult trees.
At the marked trail junction, continue walking straight ahead. You will
hike clockwise around the interpretive loop trail.
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Sudden Oak Death. The fungus-like
microbes that cause the disease are a
type of primitive brown algae, related
to kelp. They thrive on unsusceptible
carriers, like bay laurel trees, and jump
onto oaks during wet spring seasons.
When this guide was written, waves
of infection still threatened many
of Northern California’s oaks. What
remains of the oak trees today?
California coffeeberry, a stocky
evergreen shrub, grows in patches
coffeeberry
near the trail. Its bright red fruit first
appears in summer, changing from
purple to black as it ripens. The Esselen, Native Americans who once lived
here, used these berries for food and medicine.
The Hardwood Forest
This section of forest is home to many mammalian species. During late
fall and early winter, black-tailed deer bucks roam the area in search of
does. Bobcats also inhabit the reserve, but these stealthy animals stay
within well-marked territories.
The trail leaves Big Creek to climb a steep hill. As you scale the hill, the tops
of redwood trees come into view, and the sound of rushing water quickly
fades. The silence is occasionally broken by the sharp call of the Steller’s
jay, cousin of the blue jay. Bay and oak trees flourish on the hillside. This
transition between plant communities marks a new portion of the reserve:
the hardwood forest.
Hardwood trees actually are distinguished by their seeds, not the
toughness of their wood. They are angiosperms: they produce seeds
with a nutritive casing. Softwood gymnosperms, in contrast, produce
bare seeds, as in the redwood’s pinecone.
Hardwoods grow along the slopes descending toward the canyon depths,
just above the riparian zone. Coast live oaks cluster further up the trail
at higher elevations. Starting in the mid-2000s, many of the reserve’s
tanoaks (a related species) were infected by a plant pathogen called
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bobcat
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The Overlook
At a bend in the trail, a
small sign directs hikers
uphill toward an “overlook.”
Follow this short branch
trail into a clearing—the
first vantage point of the
reserve and a beautiful
place to rest and observe.
From the overlook, the
grand sweep of Big Sur is
palpable. Notice the striking diversity of vegetation;
11 plant communities comprise nearly 350 species.
Topography, moisture, and
microclimates collectively
determine the reserve’s rich
variety of plant life.
Northeast-facing slopes rise sharply. Within five miles inland, peaks
climb to 5,000 feet. The ocean moderates a narrow range of temperatures
between warm wet winters and cool dry summers.
Combined forces from northwest winds and Earth’s rotation pull surface water out to sea in spring. Cool water from the depths then rises and
forms fog banks once it meets the warm air. The ebbs and flows of these
daily mists provide much of the water that feeds coastal plant life during
summer.
Below and to the left of the overlook, redwoods hug the canyon depths
along stream banks, where fresh water flows year-round. Up to an
elevation of 2,800 feet, redwoods mix with coast live oak of the hardwood
forest. Above that, canyon live oak and chaparral dominate. To the right,
coastal scrub grows around the dry, rocky hillsides. Shrubs, sagebrush,
succulents, and herbaceous perennials and annuals yield to grasslands at
the highest mountain ridges.
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Big Sur spans a transition
zone between northern
and southern Pacific coast
flora, leading to much of
the variety around you. For
example, redwoods reach
the southern limit of their
distribution, while yucca
plants don’t grow north
of here. Offshore, the Big
Creek Marine Reserve
combines waters from the
temperate Oregonian and
warmer Californian ocean
zones.
Big Creek flows into the
Pacific through a narrow
sandy outlet, surrounded by sheer outcrops of a
metamorphic rock known
as greenstone. Because
greenstone crumbles easily and waves strike ferociously here, intertidal
species face extreme hardships.
Despite the challenges, many marine invertebrates inhabit the reserve’s
shoreline. Small marine mollusks called limpets and chitons feed on
microorganisms that settle on rocks within the tidal zone. Green, red, and
brown algae cling to submerged boulders. Kelp crabs graze through oar
and feather boa kelp. Humpback whales, gray whales, and blue whales
migrate annually along the Big Sur coastline.
Few places in California display such diversity within just a few short
miles. Above it all, red-tailed hawks and California condors soar over this
spectacular confluence of mountain, stream, and sea.
As you leave the overlook, look to your right for small boulders with
smooth, fist-sized concavities. The Esselen people once used these
bedrock mortars to grind acorns into flour. Return to the main interpretive
trail, where you’ll soon see another major remnant from Esselen times: the
ancient shell midden.
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The Midden
The shell midden lies just beyond a thin creek, which flows year-round
from an uphill spring. This part of central California features many
middens: ancient waste sites that reveal the history of the reserve’s earliest
human inhabitants. To find the interpretive trail midden, search the soil
along the trail’s banks for bleached white fragments of shells. Please keep
a distance, though. The midden is still an active area of archaeological
research.
Mussel and abalone shells scattered throughout the soil indicate that the
Esselen lived by the coast during winter. Archaeologists believe they moved
inland during summer and fall to harvest acorns. Nearby middens are filled
with projectile points and bone-carved tools, some of which suggest the
Esselen hunted on these grounds as long as 6,500 years ago. Evidence
suggests this midden is more than 5,000 years old.
Because Big Sur’s flora and fauna offered abundant sources of food, and
because the terrain was so rugged, the Esselen never took to agriculture.
Instead, they hunted and gathered until European settlers arrived in the
late 1700s.
The settlers established their first missions near Esselen territory. Catholic
priests baptized hundreds of tribe members, documenting all who entered
the mission. Using those records and ancient artifacts, archaeologists infer
that the Esselen population never exceeded 1,500 individuals.
Before the mid-1800s, many of the Esselen either disbanded or died from
diseases introduced into their society. Anthropologists suspect some tribe
members may have retreated deep into the wilderness, eventually migrating into nearby developing towns. Their culture lingers through historical
accounts and a sparse few descendants.
midden
Continue through the hardwood forest to pass the Dolan trailhead and
Dairy Canyon.
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Redwood Corridor
As the trail returns to the canyon bottom, the upright and robust trunk of
Sequoia sempervirens, the coastal redwood, shades the forest floor within a
heavily wooded corridor.
Redwoods are among the planet’s oldest and tallest organisms. The
reserve’s oldest redwoods are at least 400 years old, with some soaring taller
than 250 feet. Growth rings inside the trunk record each year of a tree’s age;
discolorations or narrower rings may record past wildfires or droughts.
Because rings tell the age of only the above-ground portion, the age of the
much older root system remains unknown.
The redwoods clustered in this corridor are actually quite young. Sequoia
sempervirens can live longer than 2,000 years and grow more than 350 feet
tall. (Their cousins, Sequoiadendron giganteum, grow only at higher elevations in the Sierra Nevada and are the largest trees in the world.) The
tallest redwoods grow farther north, where thicker fog and heavier rainfall
promote greater growth. A redwood’s crown, which can spread as wide
as 40 feet, gathers much of the water it needs from summer fog. As fog
drifts inland, it contacts the crown and condenses. Some of the tree’s leaves
absorb water as it drips toward the soil.
About 100 million years ago, redwoods grew across the Northern
Hemisphere. Today, they range in a narrow band from Oregon to
California, extending only so far south as Big Sur. They grow alongside
streams and cool slopes.
Many plants have adapted to growing on the shaded forest floor. Sword
ferns, redwood sorrel, and trillium all thrive within the redwood duff.
Look upward and you may notice the signature holes of an acorn
woodpecker’s granary. These small birds sport bright red crowns atop their
painted white faces. In early autumn, they collect acorns and pine seeds,
depositing them into the countless holes of their granaries. The caches
provide food throughout winter and into the spring breeding season.
Spotted owls also nest in the redwoods, but they are nocturnal and difficult
to see.
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The Ridgeline
The trail begins to ascend as you leave the clustered redwoods behind. At
its peak, the path opens to a clearing—the northernmost point of the interpretive trail. Beneath the sprawling branches of a large oak tree is a tempting patch of ground to sit, eat, and scan the southern reaches of the reserve.
The Ventana Wilderness stretches across 240,000 coastal acres north and
east of this point. Cone Peak, the highest point of the mountain ridge to the
east, is home to the endemic and rare Santa Lucia Fir. Mining Ridge rises in
Cone Peak’s foreground. Twin Peak is to its west.
Big Creek flows through the canyon below. Its path roughly marks
the Sur-Nacimiento fault zone: the meeting place of two major rock
formations in central California. The Salinian block sits east of the divide;
the Nacimiento block sits west. A third, lesser-exposed rock formation, informally known as Big Creek Conglomerate, is peppered atop both blocks.
The Salinian block was once part of the Sierra Nevada, geologists believe,
before it split off to traverse the San Andreas Fault. It features both metamorphosed sedimentary rocks deposited underwater in layers, such as
marble and limestone, and igneous rocks from solidified magma, such as
granite.
The Nacimiento block carries a highly
deformed rock assortment known as
the Franciscan Complex, underlying
about one-third of the reserve. The
rocks span ages from the late Jurassic
to the late Cretaceous, about 65 million
to 200 million years ago. Volcanic rock
and sandstone make up the majority,
but sedimentary rocks like chert, limestone, and shale also appear.
Big Creek Conglomerate is exposed
on Mining Ridge, Dolan Ridge, and
Gamboa Ridge. Its patterns and composition suggest that it is the youngest
of the reserve’s formations.
California condor
This amalgam of rock types was long
a geographical enigma. Scientists now understand that the two blocks
formed over a 200-million-year period as the Pacific Ocean crust slid
under the North American continental crust. Today, the Pacific and North
American crustal plates slide past one another along the San Andreas,
about 50 miles east of the reserve. Spur faults still rattle this part of the
coast with occasional earthquakes.
As you leave the clearing, you’ll follow the ridge and enter intermittent
patches of oak forest. This marks the beginning of your descent through
the grasslands. Be sure to mind your step, but watch the skies for North
America’s largest land bird: the California condor.
This carrion-feeder once faced extinction. By 1987, only 22 wild birds
remained. Captive breeding programs have restored the population to
about 400. Condor pairs have even begun nesting on site. The reserve hosts
one release and feeding site; others range from the Vermillion Cliffs of
Arizona to Sierra San Pedro de Mártir of Baja California, Mexico.
Jet-black feathers cover a condor’s entire body, except for white triangular
patches beneath each wing, while its head is perfectly bare. If you see a
condor, you’ll most likely spy it soaring aloft without flapping. Their
majestic wingspans, reaching more than nine feet, are unmistakable.
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The Grasslands
Grasslands are widespread along and below the reserve’s ridges. In spring,
ephemeral wildflowers such as California poppy, scarlet pimpernel, and
owl’s clover speckle the hillocks with vibrant colors.
Watch for outcrops of green, waxy serpentinite. This Franciscan rock
contains the heavy metals chromium and nickel, which can harm plants
when the rock crumbles. Native grasses, such as bunchgrass or needlegrass,
have adapted to growing around the toxic stones. Marble outcrops, which
are gray and coarse, also occur throughout the area.
Perennial bunchgrasses grow in
discontinuous patches where their thin
blades sprout tightly together. It may be
difficult to see bunchgrass, or other native species, because annual European
grasses blanket the slopes. Still, a few
persistent shrubs and bundles of native
grass emerge through the thicket.
Climatic change can dictate which
grasses flourish from season to season.
bunchgrass
For instance, warm summers favor the
deep-rooted bunchgrasses. The introduced species, such as bromegrass
and wild oats, grow vigorously in most other conditions.
The grasslands are a rich fuel source for potential wildfires, as invasive
plants have filled the gaps that once existed between native grass bunches. Some ecologists suggest that native grasses and seeds can endure fires,
while invasive species would be severely impacted.
When the Esselen occupied the reserve, they routinely set fires to clear
brush and promote hunting. Their fires maintained the grasslands by
preventing woody plant communities from invading.
European settlers used fire to clear land for grazing. Homesteaders and
private leaseowners continued cattle farming until 1987, when the
University of California allowed the grazing leases to expire. Remnants of
fences reveal where the cows roamed.
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puma
Follow the winding trail down through the grassy slopes and back into the
streamside forest. Many of the reserve’s mammals take shelter within these
shaded areas. Hikers may encounter coyotes, bobcats, and raccoons. Yet
very few have seen the mountain lion, or puma.
Pumas are powerful and elusive. Adults weigh well over 100 pounds and
measure more than eight feet long. The reserve’s few pumas are secretive;
we see evidence of them via scat and tree-scrapings. Mountain lions
occupy diverse habitats from Canada to the southern Andes. California
rescinded hunting bounties on pumas only as recently as the 1960s. But
attitudes have shifted, and today, scientists and conservationsts work
together to conserve this majestic species.
Descend through the streamside forest until you rejoin Big Creek.
Continue past the confluence with Devil’s Creek to return to the roadway,
leading back to the reserve’s entrance. As your journey concludes, recall
the stark geological changes and the striking diversity of plant and animal
life you have seen. Only within the fully protected range of the Santa Lucia
Mountains and Big Sur coastline could such flora and fauna thrive.
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W
e encourage you to recognize the
importance of respecting the land,
wherever you go. With conservation in
practice, students and teachers can study
unspoiled ecosystems and their residents for
generations to come.
Text and artwork for this guide were produced in 2012-13
as student projects.
Writer Brendan D. Bane was a senior majoring in Ecology
and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California,
Santa Cruz, with plans for a career in journalism.
Illustrator Chloe Millhauser was a senior at Santa Cruz High
School. She then enrolled as a Studio Art major at California
Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.
Designer: Kathleen M. Wong
Editor: Robert Irion
Content advisors: Mark Readdie, Gage Dayton
© 2013
Funded by the volunteers and supporters of Big Creek Reserve