Honey Run Covered Bridge Area
Map SatelliteThe main vegetative cover in this area, which runs from the vicinity of the Honey Run covered bridge upstream some 5 kilometers (3 miles) along the Little Butte Creek, is chaparral with Arctostaphylos patula, Ceanothus cuneatus and toyon, Heteromeles arbutifolia, among the more conspicuous elements. There are also some foothill woodlands with black oak, Quercus kelloggii, big-leaf maple, Acer macrophyllum, California buckeye, Aesculus californica, and California bay, Umbellularia californica.
Within the area two rare plants occur, Fritillaria eastwoodiae and Sidalcea robusta. In portions of the area there are good displays of spring wildflowers including Nemophila heterophylla, Galium nuttallii(?), Plectritis macrocera and Mimulus guttatus. In the more shaded moist areas there is a variety of ferns including Polypodium californicum and Adiantum jordanii.
The canyon walls are of the Upper Cretaceous Chico formation overlain by the Pliocene volcanic Tuscan formation. (See Butte Creek Canyon overlook.)
Integrity: There is a road running through the area and there are a few dwellings. In places, Scotch broom, Cytisus scoparius, is becoming the dominant plant.
Use: Private
August 1977
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman
