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Map Satellite Lying behind the Napa State Hospital, this extensive area has been proposed as a regional park. The rolling hills, with some steep-sided canyons, are covered with excellent stands of chaparral and oak woodland. In the chaparral chamise, Adenostoma fasciculatum, is the dominant, with several manzanitas, Arctostaphylos spp., and Ceanothus spp. present. On the ridges the oak woodland forms a mosaic with the chaparral, the dominant trees being the coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia, and California bay, Umbellularia californica. On some of the north-facing slopes the bay forms practically pure stands.
Along an intermittent stream feeding a reservoir is a riparian association.
Animal life is quite abundant in the area. Of particular note is the mountain quail, Oreortyx picta, which here is near the southern limit of its North Coast Range distribution, there being a gap of some 240 kilometers (150 miles) before it is found again in the Santa Lucia Mountains.
Within the area are outcrops of several types of volcanic rocks of the Sonoma Formation dating to the Pliocene.
Integrity: A reservoir and a few jeep trails are the only developments in a virtually pristine area.
Use: Restricted.
August 1976
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman
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