Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
cess that can take days, weeks, or months, depending on rainfall, temperature, and
the size of the pool.
Exactly how mima mounds form is a subject of debate. One of the more inter-
esting theories is that the mounds are a byproduct of generations of industrious pock-
et gophers. Gophers prefer to build nests in deep soil. If the soil is shallow, gophers
will carry in dirt from surrounding slopes, thereby creating mounds.
From the pools and mounds, descend toward
Fern Gully.
Just past a wire fence,
you'll reach a junction with the westbound and southbound
Nature Trail
(1.5 miles,
180'). Turn left on the southbound route past
Huff & Puff Hill
and cross Fern Gully
on slotted wooden
Willow Bridge
(2.2 miles, 40'). Pause here to listen to warblers,
thrushes, winter wrens, and dozens of other songbirds in the surrounding riparian
woodland.
Leaving the bridge, you'll climb
Pine Ridge,
where wildlife includes bobcats,
coyotes, deer, skunks, and foxes, as evidenced by plentiful scat. Though wind hushes
through the open pines, calling to mind the Sierra Nevada, the glistening Pacific is in
sight less than a mile west.
Continue through the pine and oak woodland and descend to a long
wooden
bridge
(2.9 miles, 40') amid the wetlands. From this bridge, wheelchair-accessible
platforms return 0.3 mile to the trailhead beside the footbridge, 0.1 mile east of the
Washburn Day-Use Area.
