Wards Ferry Natural Area
Map SatelliteA mixture of oak woodland, savannah and chaparral is found in this steep-sided canyon cut by the Tuolumne River. Trees include blue oak, Quercus douglasii, black oak, Quercus kelloggii, scrub oak, Quercus berberidifolia, interior live oak, Quercus wislizenii, maul oak, Quercus chrysolepis, oracle oak, Quercus kelloggii x Quercus wislizenii, California buckeye, Aesculus californica, ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa, and gray pine, Pinus sabiniana.
The savannah understory consists of a rich flora of annual grasses, forbs and ferns. Brush species include chamise, Adenostoma fasciculatum, manzanita, Arctostaphylos sp., redberry, Rhamnus crocea, and poison oak, Toxicodendron diversilobum.
Soils on the north side of the canyon are of the Auburn-Rockland association; on the south, of the Waymen-Rockland association.
Integrity: A reservoir has flooded a portion of the canyon floor; otherwise the area is virtually undisturbed.
Use: Research, educational, observational.
January 1976
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman
