Sunol Valley Regional Park
Map Satellite
Virtually a wilderness area, the dominant vegetation is foothill woodland and valley grassland, mixed with chaparral. The woodland includes gray pine, Pinus sabiniana, valley oak, Quercus lobata, and California buckeye, Aesculus californica. The grassland consists primarily of exotics, with some natives. There is also a riparian woodland dominated by sycamore, Platanus racemosa, along the several creeks.
Animal life is abundant. Among the more noteworthy nesting birds are prairie falcon, Falco mexicanus, golden eagle, Aquila chrysaetos, and ouzel, Cinclus mexicanus.
Geologically, the area is one of the best training fields in the region. Complicated folds, including diapirs, as well as faults in the Miocene and Pliocene sediments that rest uncomfortably on Franciscan formation and Cretaceous rocks are well exposed. They are intruded by irregular rhyolitic dikes and chronoliths. The area straddles the Calaveras Fault. Serpentine and Franciscan metamorphics are present.
Integrity: Lightly grazed, and with a road through the park, much of the area is only slightly disturbed.
Use: Research, educational, observational, light recreation. A portion of the area is private.
October 1976
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman
