The following is a list of on-line links that you can use to explore Yolo County using your computer. This list can be used in conjunction with the "Yolo Place Names (and Links)" found on the main menu of the Yolo County GenWeb page. You can use this list to quickly find destinations of interest within Yolo County and use the "Yolo Place Names (and Links)" page for further information and other links, if available.

• Blue-Ridge Berryessa Natural Area (RBNACP)

  "Located less than two hours from California’s Sacramento and San Francisco Bay areas, the BRBNA includes the rugged, natural landscapes and rangelands of the Putah and Cache Creek watersheds. The BRBNA is bounded on the east by the Capay and Sacramento Valleys, on the west by the Clear Lake basin and the Napa River watershed, on the north by the Mendocino National Forest, and extends southward towards Interstate 80 in Solano County."

• Blue Ridge Trail – Hikes In and Around Western Yolo County and Eastern Napa County

  This excerpt of the hike includes a history of the Blue Ridge area, Capay Valley, and the local Patwin Indians and detailed description of the hike on the Blue Ridge Trail.

• Cache Creek Area History – Nature lovers weave link to past, by Beth Curda, Davis Enterprise article – Using traditional Native American methods and materials, about 10 people made and tested a tule boat.

  "A group of area residents, who gathered at the Cache Creek Conservancy to try their hands at an American Indian boat-making technique...."

• Cache Creek Canyon Regional Park

  Cache Creek Canyon Regional Park is located along Highway 16, approximately 6 miles north of the town of Rumsey.

• Cache Creek Conservancy (CCC) – Cache Creek Nature Preserve

  The Cache Creek Nature Preserve is west of Woodland, and north of Winters and Davis. Reservations are needed prior to visiting the preserve.

• Cache Creek Natural Area (Northwestern portion of Yolo County and southwestern part of Colusa County)

  This is a very informative on-line site with some very nice photographs of the Cache Creek area. The Cache Creek Recreational Area is located along Highway 16 about six miles north of the town of Rumsey. It is managed cooperatively by the Bureau of Land Management's Ukiah Field Office and the California Department of Fish and Game. The site provides detailed information regarding the access points from either Yolo or Colusa Counties. The Native American Indians of the area are discussed along with the other wild inhabitants and the environment. The site describes the Cache Creek area as follows:

  “This 65,000 acre secluded, hilly expanse of oak woodlands, grasslands, and chaparral is cut by Cache Creek, with its year-round water flow. Elevation ranges from 3200 feet atop Brushy Sky High, down to 600 feet in the eastern end of Cache Creek along State Route 16. Showcasing the area is about 35 miles of the main fork of Cache Creek and 2.5 miles of the north fork.”

  "Along the creek, wetland grasses, rushes and sedges under a canopy of cottonwoods, willows, oaks and alders provide excellent wildlife habitat. About half the Cache Creek area is shrubland, with vegetation including mixed chaparral, serpentine chaparral and chemise chaparral. The remainder of the area is about equally divided between native oaks and grassland. Numerous bird species have been spotted here."

• Camp Haswell Park

  Camp Haswell Park was an old Boy Scout camp. The park is located 2 miles north of the town of Rumsey along State Highway 16.

• Clarksburg Boat Launch

  The Clarksburg facility is located on a 3.9 acre shelf of land inside the Sacramento River Levee just 1.5 miles below Clarksburg & County Road E-9.

• Davis – Virtual Tour of Historic Davis

  The Virtual Tour of Historic Davis was created and presented by the third grade students of Julia Cardosa, Birch Lane School, Davis, California. It includes the history of Davis told through text, old photographs, and original drawings created by the students.

• Elkhorn Regional Park

  The Elkhorn Regional Park is located between the levee and the Sacramento River, east of County Road 22, 1.75 miles south of where Interstate 5 crosses the Sacramento River. This park of 55 acres has lush riparian vegetation and a wide variety of wildlife.

• Esparto Community Park

  The Esparto Community Park is a 4 acre site located along State Highway 16 in Esparto.

• Grasslands Regional Park, Yolo County
  
  Grasslands Regional Park is a 320-acre natural preserve that is located south of Davis in the southern portion of Yolo County and is located in an original marshland area. After the levees were constructed, the land was used as farmland. The article indicates that there is "... a large variety of wildlife including the red-tailed and Swainson's hawk, the burrowing owl and other raptors. Enclosed at the park site is a natural savanna where more than 100 acres of valley oak trees have been replanted – primarily by community volunteers – and where vernal pools have been identified and are being protected...re-creating the natural landscape." (The preceding quotation was taken from Dave Rosenberg's web site when he was the Yolo County Supervisor of District Four. The quotation is used with permission.) <http://www.yolocounty.org/org/BOS/Rosenberg/undiscovered.htm>

• Helvetia Oak Grove

  There is no public access to this area yet, but you can check this web site for information.

• Hungry Hollow Area of Yolo County - Photographic Tour, contributed by Phil and Barbara Caine.

• Knights Landing Boat

  Knights Landing Boat Launch is located on 4 acres near the town of Knights Landing, at the junction of the Sacramento River and the Sycamore Slough, on State Route 45, about 25 miles northwest of Sacramento.

• Otis Ranch Open Space Area

  Otis Ranch Open Space Area is located between Cache Creek Canyon Campground and Camp Haswell that is known as the Otis Property.

• Putah – Cache Circumdrive
  
  The Putah-Cache Circumdrive is provided line by The Putah-Cache Bioregion Project, Robert Thayer, and David Robertson (copyright - University of California).
  

  • Putah – Cache: A Thinking Mammal’s Guide to the Watershed, edited by Amy J. Boyer, Jan Goggans, Daniel Leroy, David Robertson, and Rob Thayer.

• Map of the Putah – Cache Circumdrive (Mapping & GIS)

  The Putah and Cache Creek Watersheds Map is available "Order Map" section. The Putah-Cache Circumdrive tour description begins and ends in Davis, although you can join the circumdrive at any point along the route. The drive explores the areas through Davis, Winters, Lake Berryessa, Middletown, Lake Berryessa, Middletown, Hidden Valley, Cobb Mountain, Loch Lomond, Lower Lake, Clear Lake (the last nine locations lie in Lake County) Capay Valley, Woodland, and the area around, West Sacramento. My husband and I have driven part of the tour and discovered many interesting points of interest relating to the history and environment of the area that you would rarely notice speeding down the country roads in your car without the tour guide presented here. We hope to present photographs along the route as we travel and explore it ourselves in the future to share with you here on-line.

• Putah Creek Exploration Book

  The Putah Creek Exploration Book, presented by the Putah Creek Council. This book allows you to explore the Putah Creek area online. You can read about the book on the Putah Creek Countil web site, and two access links for the book are presented there. (Links for the online Putah Creek Exploration Book are available for both high speed connections and dial-up, Windows 98 or non-java based access Internet connections.)

• Putah Creek Fishing Access

  Putah Creek Fishing Access is located on 150 acres, along a 3.25 mile stretch of Putah Creek and State Highway 128, 7 miles west of the town of Winters.

• Sacramento River Conservation Area Forum

  "Riparian habitat along the Sacramento River is a diverse mosaic of habitat ranging from broad gravel bars to shady sloughs, from gallery forests to emergent cottonwoods at the water's edge. The riparian corridor of the Sacramento River has some of the best agricultural soil and most productive orchards in the state." (The preceding quotation is used with permission. For more information on the Sacramento River, visit the Sacramento River: A Guide to Recreation and Public Access web site This web site includes many photographs of the area.)

• Vernon A. Nichols Park

  Nichols Park is located along Cache Creek off of State Highway 16 on County Road 57, at the town of Guinda.

• "Winters Wonderland," by Crystal Ross O'Hara, Davis Enterprise online edition, staff writer, Tuesday, March 3, 2004. (This article is about things to do and places to see in the town of Winters.)

• (Yolo County – "The Garden County," by Ann M. Evans and Georgeanne Brennan, Davis Enterprise online edition, Wednesday, March 4, 2004. (This article is about touring Yolo County by car in the springtime.)

• Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area (On Interstate 80 at the Yolo Causeway Yolo Basin)

  The above on-line site described as "... the largest public/private restoration project west of the Florida Everglades. 3,700 acres of land in the Yolo Bypass floodway have been restored to wetlands and other associated habitats." The Yolo Basin Foundation presents a schedule of weekend field trips for the general public. The trips leaders are described as "experienced Yolo Audubon members or other wildlife experts." They focus primarily on the natural history of the area. This site is managed by the California Department of Fish and Game to promote an increase in waterfowl and other bird populations.

  For more information on Wetlands, these links may be of interest:

  • California's Wetlands
  • National Wildlife Federation – Wetlands
  • Sierra Club's Critical Ecoregions Program
    

• The Yolohiker Web Site – The hikes, trail maps, and outings on this site are within the Putah and Cache Creek watersheds which is, reportedly, "the best most beautiful place in the world." You'll find some very beautiful photographs on this web site that details many hikes in the Yolo County area.