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Carnivores of California

Baylorguy

"Oh, now he's a philosophizer"
I am going to be flying out to San Francisco the first week of March for business and figured I would make a small vacation of it. I am interested in seeing some native California carnivorous plants and was wondering if anyone knows of state parks or protected sites that I could visit? Of course, I also plan on making a pit stop in Sebastopol, CA :)

Any help is much appreciated!

Phil
 
Oooo, I'm interested in seeing what people have to say to this too. I may be going on another road trip through California this summer and would love to see some plants. Peter recently posted on Facebook a bunch of pictures of Darlingtonia they went to see in Del Norte County, California and South Oregon. Honestly, that's all I know of, and those are really far north, might be adding more mileage than I was hoping for. o_O

So, again, I'm definitely interested too. Subscribed!
 
Everything should be dormant so you won't see much except Darlingtonia. Peter can tell you how to get to the sites in Gasquet, CA. Other sites are around Lake Tahoe and Mount Shasta. These may be snowed in and even if they are not the lack of the tell-tale red color or flowers will make it difficult for the novice to spot plants. You arer probably looking at around a four hour drive from San Francisco to most sites.

http://users.humboldt.edu/rziemer/Gasquet/gasquet.html

You can try the Albion Bog in Mendicino County even though most of the stuff there was introduced. Again, Peter can tell you how to get there.

http://www.bacps.org/2010Summer/#albionbog
 
@NaN: From reading through the article, it seems the Albion bog isn't easy to get... permission to visit. Has that changed, do you know?
 
Thanks for the post, NAN. Should have considered the dormancy factor. I keep forgetting we're dealing with Northern CA.
 
several areas near gasquet, their is a site well marked with signs on HWY 199 just North of Gasquet, less than a 1/4 mile trail, nice site though. The best area for Darlintonia I have found, is in the N. Fork of the Smith river canyon, on the Oregon side. Most of the hills west of the river hold many of them. If you are feeling adventurous and maybe wanna spend the night. Look for Chrome Creek on the map, it will be on the east sidfe of the river. kind of a rough hike/swim/wade (no trail here). It is a stunning sight.
Maybe plan a late spring hike? I have not been out that way in quite a few years, I would love to show you.
 
Hey boxo, thanks for the offer, much appreciated! Unfortunately my wife isn't the adventurous type when it comes to hiking and getting dirty (I know, I know :) ) Sounds like you know how to find Darlingtonia though.

Phil
 
That non-native bog is super cool! Amazing all those plants can grow in the place.
 
This is just reinforcing my fantasy California exploration trip. :)
 
  • #10
Hey Baylorguy
hope you can stop by and see me. I am 10 miles south of Sebastopol , 2 easy miles off the freeway. My plants aren't as large as Peter's

BTW most of the non native plants have been removed from the Albion Bog cause the land is owned by the Nature Conservatory and you know how they feel about non natives
 
  • #11
Hey Lois, I just may take you up on your offer :) Didn't realize you were in that area. I'll send you a PM as the time gets closer.

Also, I think I remember reading that the non native plants were removed. Barry Rice wrote an article saying the land owner was throwing a fit!

Phil
 
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  • #12
There are still a few to see there, They are just harder to find. There is no way they will remove them all! Anyway, I hate to burst your bubble but your lookin at a 3-6 hour drive from SF to any of the places. Albion is the closest that I know of and it takes me ~2 hours to get there, and I live 5 min. from Peter. Everything will be dormat so you won't see much (maybe a cobra plant here and there) plus now it is private property. Other then that your lookin at near the Oregon boarder which is about 5-6 hours depending on where your going. There are a ton of great places to go see CPs in the bay area though. I would recomend going to the Berkley botanical garden and the SF flower conservatory. Lois is always a great place to check out as well as Peter's.


Hey Baylorguy
hope you can stop by and see me. I am 10 miles south of Sebastopol , 2 easy miles off the freeway. My plants aren't as large as Peter's

BTW most of the non native plants have been removed from the Albion Bog cause the land is owned by the Nature Conservatory and you know how they feel about non natives
 
  • #13
If you read the Summer 2010 BACPS Newsletter article I linked to above you'd see that a recent visit to the Albion Bog showed everything pretty much the same, just less Sarracenia. No fences, no Trespass notices. TNC objects strongly to people leaving non-indigenous species there - they don't mind people visiting - just don't take anything without permission and certainly don't leave anything you brought with you.

Any clearing that Barry Rice and his crew had done has either been somewhat undone by nature or people continuing to introduce plants to this area.
 
  • #14
Thanks again everyone. Much appreciated.
 
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