Forest of Nisene Marks State Park
Map SatelliteOne of the larger State Parks in central California, this area is managed as a semi-wilderness. A variety of habitats is found in the park, including redwood and mixed evergreen forests, chaparral, riparian and grassland.
The redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, forest provides an excellent example of natural re-vegetation, having been virtually clear-cut between 1900 and 1925. In the mixed evergreen forest there is Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii, madrone, Arbutus menziesii, California bay, Umbellularia californica, and tan-oak, Lithocarpus densiflora. In the higher elevations there is chaparral with knobcone pine, Pinus attenuata.
Along the numerous creeks in the park are riparian associations, with willows, Salix sp., alder, Alnus sp., and a wide assortment of ferns and liverworts.
A variety of animal life is found here, including the introduced feral pig, Sus scrofa, and turkey, Meleagris gallopavo. Silver salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, and steelhead, Salmo gairdnerii gairdnerii, spawn in the major creeks. Other fish include the prickly sculpin, Cottus asper, and lamprey, Lampetra sp.
Geologically, the area includes marine sedimentary rocks of the Oligocene, Miocene and Pliocene epochs. There are marine invertebrate fossils in some of the Miocene and Pliocene formations.
Integrity: The area was first logged in the 1870's and again in the 1900's to 1920's, and mill sites, rail beds, etc., are still found in the park. There is a minimum of park development and much of the area that is not second-growth redwood is relatively undisturbed.
Use: Research, educational, observational, present.
March 1978
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman