Field Trips

Name: Fairy Falls in Nevada County
Start: 2026-04-10
End: 2026-04-10
Location: Fairy Falls

The Sacramento Valley Chapter periodically organizes field trips to view plants in locations further away from Sacramento. Field trips are often held either in the Sierras or along the western edge of the Sacramento Valley.

The El Dorado chapter is hosting a field trip on Tuesday, July 8, 2025 at 9:00 am to Lyons Creek Trail, Eldorado National Forest This is a joint field trip with the El Dorado Chapter of CNPS.

Beginning at the Lyons Creek trailhead at 6,750 feet, we will hike up Lyons Creek to about 7,200 feet, about 4 miles round trip. We will encounter open granite, mountain meadows, and fir-lodgepole conifer forest, all under the shadow of the beautiful Crystal Range. The wildflowers are gorgeous in the early summer, including a variety of lupines, onions, many species of the Sunflower Family, wallflower, species of the Heath Family, orchids, and many more! We will also be walking through a part of the Forest burned in the Caldor Fire, so we’ll see how the Forest plants are responding and recovering.

Preregistration for this trip is required. Please go to https://eldoradocnps.org/events/lyons-creek-trail-field-trip-sac-valley-and-el-dorado-chapters-cnps/

Grass Lake Sunday August 3, 2025

There will be a Sacramento Valley Chapter CNPS field trip to Grass Lake (north of Luther Pass on Highway 89, near the California/Nevada border, and south of Lake Tahoe) on Sunday, August 3, 2025. Trip leaders will be Carol Witham and Greg Kareofelas.

Email Carol W. Witham for more information.

Grass Lake is a unique floating sphagnum bog, one of only two in California. The area is also home to several rare plants and insects. We will “trampoline” (actually “tremble and sway”) on the floating bog and explore the unique plants and animals surrounding this lake. Carol knows the dominant plant species and will have a plant list. Greg Kareofelas has expertise on the butterflies, dragonflies, and damselflies of the area.”

We will meet at 10:00 AM at a pull off along the south side of Highway 89 just west of Luther Pass.

From Highway 88, go north on Highway 89 for ~4.1 miles.

From Highway 50, go south on Highway 89 for ~7.1 miles.

The “pull off” parking area consists of a gravel area between a paved pull off passing lane and a series of wooden 6×6″ posts. It is the only pull off with wooden posts.

Google Maps and Google Streetview

Bring layered clothing for all kinds of weather. Wear shoes you won’t mind getting wet (walking out onto the bog will mean water higher than your normal hiking boot). Also bring water, hat, sunscreen, insect repellent, snacks, lunch, etc. Don’t forget dry shoes for the ride home.

We will probably end around 2:00-3:00 pm depending on what we find and the interests of the group. You can always depart according to your own schedule; we probably won’t travel more than ½ mile from the parking area.

You will be required to sign a standard CNPS liability waiver upon arrival. Each participant will need to sign a Liability Waiver.

There are no restrooms at Grass Lake. The nearest restrooms are at the Highway 88/89 junction (~7 miles toward Hope Valley) and at the Big Meadow Tahoe Rim Trailhead (~2.5 miles toward Meyers).

If you are coming, please RSVP Carol W. Witham via email so that she can get an idea of the headcount and if you have any questions or last-minute issues you can call her cell at 916-761-7886 (but reception is iffy at Luther Pass).

Sorry, no dogs allowed because of the bog.

Places We Visit

Sacramento County

Yolo County

Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area
UC Davis Arboretum and Putah Creek Riparian Reserve
UC Davis Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve
Tuleyome (directory of trails on public lands in Yolo County and several surrounding counties)

Colusa County

Tuleyome (select Colusa County in county search bar)
Colusa National Wildlife Refuge
Delevan National Wildlife Refuge

Sutter County

Sutter Buttes (guided hikes only, led by Middle Mountain Foundation)
Sutter National Wildlife Refuge
Bobelaine Audubon Sanctuary

Yuba County

West Placer County

Beyond the Sacramento Valley Chapter

Bay Area Hiker (detailed information about parkland hiking routes in the nine Bay Area counties)
East Bay Regional Park District
California State Parks
Golden Gate National Recreation Area

Where and When

Field trips have resumed and are free to all. Anyone is welcome. Most of us who participate are hobbyists. We try to plan at least one field trip per month from April through August. We visit many different types of biomes to see as many different types of plants, animals and insects as possible. The trips are mainly just very short hikes to see as much as we can in 3-4 hours time. Each trip will have an individual description of the terrain and what to expect. Hope to see you on a trip soon.

Upcoming Field Trips

To find out when the next trip will be scheduled, you can check this page, or contact John Schmidt @ FieldTrips@sacvalleycnps.org to be added to the Field Trips email list. Once your email address is included on the list, you will receive updates about upcoming trips.

If there are no field trips shown on the event list (on the right side of this page) none are currently scheduled.