On January 17, 2001, the President of the United States signed a proclamation designating the public lands of the Carrizo Plain as a National Monument. Located in the southeastern portion of San Luis Obispo County and parts of southwestern Kern County, the Carrizo Plain encompasses nearly 250,000 acres (204,107 of federal land) and is home to 13 species of plants and animals which are federally or state listed as threatened or endangered. Rich in Native American cultural values, the Carrizo was once an important area where the Chumash and Yokuts peoples traded, gathered food and held ceremonies.
The Salinan tribal group immediately to the north of the Carrizo Plain also used the area. The landscape still holds remnants of a past when dryland farming and ranching were the predominant ways of life on the Plain. The Carrizo Plain is a narrow, valley grassland bordered on the east side by the Temblor Range and the San Andreas Fault. The west side is bordered by the Caliente Range which gives the Carrizo Plain its highest elevation point of 5,106 feet. The monument also includes the 19,000-acre of Caliente Mountain Wilderness Study Area. With direct influence from the San Andreas fault, the Carrizo Plain contains a 3,000 acre seasonal alkali lake, along with numerous vernal pools and sag ponds.
Lying adjacent to the southwest edge of the San Joaquin Valley in eastern San Luis Obispo County, the Carrizo Plain is the largest remaining tract of the San Joaquin Valley biogeographic province with only limited evidence of human alteration. The 250,000 acre area is a diverse complex of habitats similar to those in the San Joaquin Valley that have become fragmented or destroyed. It includes the largest remaining contiguous habitats for many endangered, threatened and rare species of animals such as the San Joaquin kit fox, the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, the San Joaquin antelope squirrel and the giant kangaroo rat and also provides habitat for many listed plant species including the California jewelflower, Hoovers wooly-star and San Joaquin woolythreads.
The Carrizo Plain has been a focal point identified in U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service recovery plans for land acquisition and management of these species. In addition, the Carrizo Plain National Monument contains “critical” habitat for California condors as well as being the first area in California to reintroduce both the pronghorn antelope and the Tule elk, native ungulates had been hunted to extinction by the late 1800’s. Both sandhill cranes and mountain plovers use the Carrizo Plain as either a roosting place or as their winter home. A wide variety of raptor species also use the area for nesting, foraging and wintering.
The area is also rich with evidence of its prehistoric and historic past. Painted Rock, a sacred, ceremonial site of the Chumash People, rises majestically from the grassland while remnants of homesteads, farms and mining operations dot the remainder of the Plain. Separated from the San Joaquin Valley floor by the Temblor Range and the Cuyama River valley and the Sierra Madres by the Caliente Range, the size, resource and cultural values, isolation and relatively undisturbed nature of this region distinguish it as ideal for a National Monument that promotes the long-term conservation of the vanishing San Joaquin flora and fauna.
History & Culture
The Carrizo Plain National Monument is rich in human history. Archaeologists theorize that humans have occupied the Carrizo Plain National Monument area since the Paleo Indian Period (circa 11,000 to 9,000 B. C.). Bedrock mortar milling features, village middens and elaborate pictographs are the primary manifestations of prehistoric occupation. Some of these, such as the Painted Rock and Sulphur Springs rock art sites, are recognized as world class. European expeditions through the area date back to the late 170, with settlement beginning in the 185. Livestock ranching, farming and mining activities in the last century and a half are evidenced by numerous artifacts and historic ranch properties within the area.
Nature & Science
Geology
The Carrizo Plain National Monument owes its existence to the geologic processes that occur along the San Andreas Fault, where two of the Earth’s five great tectonic plates slide past one another, parallel to the axis of the Plain. Shifting along the fault created the Plain by rumpling the rocks to the northeast into the Temblor Range and isolating the Plain from the rest of the San Joaquin Valley. The area is world-famous for its spectacular exposures of fault-generated land forms Stream valleys emerge from the adjacent mountains, only to take dramatic right-angle turns where they intersect the fault. Ponds and sags form where the ground is extended and subsides between branches of the fault. Benches form where the fault offsets valley walls. Many dramatic landscape features are products of the interplay between very rapid fault movement and slower erosion.
The dry climate of the area produces low erosion rates, thereby preserving the spectacular effects of fault slip, folding and warping. On the Plain, these fault-related events happen intermittently, but with great force. In 1857, the strongest earthquake in California’s recorded history ripped through the San Andreas Fault, wrenching the western side of the Carrizo Plain National Monument 31 feet north. Nowhere does the Carrizo Plain flaunt its geologic past as it does on the eastern edge of the plain where the San Andreas Fault cuts along the base of the Temblor Range. Stream channels, such as Wallace Creek, course suddenly northward as they cross the fault line and ridges rise sharply from the plain to form the Panorama and Elkhorn Hills. Salt encrusted sag ponds also appear along the fault, trapping rainwater that harbor fairy and brine shrimp. This complex and corrugated topography, the most spectacular along the fault’s 800-mile long corridor, is best viewed in the long, soft shadows of early morning and late afternoon.
About 9 million years ago boulders, cobbles and sands began to be washed from mountains west of Carrizo Plain eastward across the San Andreas fault into the shallows of the ocean basin that is now the southern San Joaquin Valley and Temblor Range. In Pleistocene Time, about 2.5 million years ago, with the uplift of the Temblor Range, this drainage was blocked, trapping runoff within the Carrizo Plain. Runoff within the central Carrizo Plain still drains internally resulting in Soda Lake, but erosion southward by tributaries of the Salinas River has captured much of the former drainage on the northern end of Carrizo Plain. Unlike other Pleistocene lakes throughout the Great Basin, the shore line of Soda Lake is not characterized by strand lines. Strand lines resemble a bath tub ring of aligned cobbles, pebbles and sand, at various lake levels. However a higher lake level can be deduced from the presence of clay dunes and “slickspots” barren shallow depressions common to sodic soils.
Soda Lake, the centerpiece of the plain, is one of the largest undisturbed alkali wetlands in California. The 3,000 acre ephemeral lake provides important habitat for migratory birds and is surrounded by a rare plant community. With no outlet, the water that pools in the lake during the winter evaporates, leaving behind a glistening expanse of sulphate and carbonate salts that appear to ripple and sway in the heat waves of summer. Throughout the dry season, the wind creates white, majestic spires of salt and dust that whirl their way upward into the sky.
Ecology
When early explorers first entered the Carrizo Plain in the San Joaquin Valley, they found a lush paradise of native grasses and colorful wildflowers. This broad, fertile valley sustained immense herds of tule elk and pronghorn antelope. California condors circled overhead and intermittent pools provided food for waterfowl and shorebirds. Native Americans came to hunt the abundant game and their many encampments dotted the plain. Today, the Carrizo Plain supports a wealth of threatened and endangered species.
Plant Communities range from iodine bush and salt bush scrub to valley grasslands and California Juniper woodland. Tule elk and pronghorn antelope have been reintroduced into the area and can be seen at various locations on the plain. Winter brings thousands of sandhill cranes to Soda Lake. Many raptors, including redtail hawks, golden eagles, kites, harriers, owls and others can be found all year throughout the area. The California Condor has been reintroduced nearby and may someday be seen again over the plain.
Recreation
Most people come to the Carrizo Plain National Monument for recreation - birding, hiking, photography, camping, hunting and just to relax.
Hiking
There are four established hiking trails on the Carrizo Plain National Monument : Soda Lake Trail and boardwalk, Wallace Creek Trail, Painted Rock Trail and the Caliente Ridge Trail.
The Soda Lake Trail is a short level trail approximately 1/4 mile long that begins at Soda Lake Road, across from Overlook Hill and takes visitors to the edge of Soda Lake. Soda Lake is dry much of the year but during the wet season, you may see wildflowers, fairy shrimp, sandhill cranes, avocets, stilts and other shore or aquatic birds. Throughout the remainder of the year, visitors may view one of Californias last remaining alkali wetlands with its unique and rare plant community of very salt tolerant plants. Soda Lake is a massive expanse of alkali and mud with a beauty all its own.
The newly constructed boardwalk begins at the edge of Soda Lake and allows visitors to view the Lake up close while protecting sensitive habitat. It is nearly one-half mile in length. Benches are available for sitting. Construction of the boardwalk was completed in the spring of 2001 primarily by a number of the California Youth Authority with help from volunteers and a local Bakersfield boy scout troop. The actual boardwalk is made out of recycled milk cartons. Restroom facilities and parking are available at the Overlook. Please do not drive to the Lake.
The Wallace Creek Trail, on Elkhorn Road, takes visitors up a slight incline for approximately 2/10 mile to view the famous offset creek bed along the San Andreas Fault. Information and parking are available at the site but there are no facilities. Check back for more information on this trail. We are in the process of creating an interpretive trail explaining the wonders of the San Andreas Fault.
Painted Rock Trail is approximately 2/3 mile of gently sloping trail. Parking and facilities are available at the trail head which leads to the sacred site of Chumash rock art. Please note that special restrictions may apply as to the accessibility of this trail.
The Caliente Ridge Trail takes the hiker on a moderate hike through the beautiful Caliente Ridge providing incredible views of much of the Carrizo Plain National Monument and parts of the Cuyama Valley. There is a parking area at the trail head; limited facilities are available below at the Selby Camping Area at the bottom of the mountains west of Soda Lake Road.
Biking
Biking in the Carrizo Plain National Monument is a great way to see many of its hidden beauties while getting in a good workout! Keep in mind that much of the CPNM is sensitive habitat, therefore bicycles are allowed on existing roads only. Livestock trails are not considered roads and are closed to bicycle use. Be aware that winter rains make roads very slick and impassable within the Monument. During these times access to most trails will not be available.
