User:Koko Yamaguchi/Low Gap Park

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Low Gap is a man-made regional county park located in the Coast Range Mountains of Mendocino County, California. It is located in the west hills of Ukiah, just across Low Gap Road from Ukiah High School. This 80-acre park is situated along Orr Creek, one of the three major streams in Ukiah and an important tributary of the Russian River. There are 14 different ecosystems that constitute this park where one can hike, as well as recreational activities at the entrance of the park, such as tennis courts, skating park, disk golf course, archery range, a playground, and a picnic area.

History
Low Gap Park was initially a lumber mill and housing site that eventually was turned into a city dump. In 1955, topsoil from what is now the archery range was pushed over the dumpsite to seal it off. In 1964, when one of the earliest State Park Bond acts was passed, a decision was made by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors to use the funds to develop the Low Gap property into a regional County park. It wasn’t until 173 that the County Parks Department and started working on the Low Gap project.

Development of the park continued beyond the initial construction of restrooms and a parking lot, with the help of funds acquired under the State Park Bond Act, the Roberti-Z'Berg Grant, and the Land and Water Conservation Act. With this financial assistance, the County was able to reconstruct and develop several recreational facilities. The County of Mendocino has also developed a 1+ acre area of land at Low Gap Park as an off-leash dog park.

One of its trails, the City View Trail, was built in 2008 as a collaboration between the City of Ukiah, Ukiah Valley Trail Group and the Paths, Open Space and Creeks Commission. It was funded by a Tobacco Settlement grant and donations from community members. Many community volunteers worked to build the trail and continue to maintain the trail.

Low Gap Nature Hike
This hike is approximately 4 miles long and includes 3 adjoining trails. The 14 numbered stops assume that you will start the hike near the Dog Park at Orr Creek Trail, continue on Canyon Creek Trail to City View Trail and return on the road west of the Dog Park. The hike passes through remarkably different habitats and diverse vegetation considering the small area it traverses.

Orr Creek
The large wooden bridge crossing the flowing waters of Orr Creek is a reminder that we are entering a park: a place where the human and the natural come together.

Orr Creek is home to steelhead trout, which are the anadromous form of rainbow trout. Mysteriously, only some of the young trout decide to travel down the river to the ocean where they mature, returning to their birth river to spawn two or three years later. Others stay in the creek as rainbow trout. Unlike most Pacific salmon, steelhead can make this trip several times before they die.

Around the bridge, a large boulder is located. This is graywacke, a kind of sandstone formed from submarine avalanches off the coast millions of years ago. It was moved here as the Pacific plate and the North American Plate crunched together. Lush riparian vegetation surrounds the creek; ash, willow, and service-berry (Amelanchier alnifolia) are some of the natives that line the bank. These plants provide shade, food, and shelter for the fish.

Orr Creek Trail
In the spring, many of the plants along the creek are in bloom, such as the Red Larkspur (Delphinium nudicaule), California Buttercup (Ranunculus occidentalis), and Shooting Stars (Primula hendersonii).

Orr Creek Meadow
This wet meadow has a large population of native grasses, reeds and sedges. Most of California’s grasslands are now exotic (not native Californian) annual grasses. Exotic plants crowd out the native California plants that have evolved with the local insects, birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals. Exotic plants often do well because nothing likes to eat them or parasitize them. In general, they do not provide as good quality shelter and food as California native plants. This meadow may have been able to survive due to wet conditions that favor native plants over non natives.

Some of the interesting plants found here are yampah (Perideridia kelloggii) and camas (Camassia sp.) Native people used the roots of these plants for food. This is also a place to find annual plants that love moisture soils such as meadowfoam (Limnanthes douglasii), blue Larkspur (Delphinium sp.), and native clovers (Trifolium spp.)

Chaparral
Chaparral is a term used to describe dense thickets of shrubs. Chaparral plants are adapted to hot, dry conditions and are found in Mediterranean climates. Chaparral plants have adapted to fire and many of the plants have seeds that will lie dormant until germination is stimulated by fire.

Many chaparral plants have sclerophyllous leaves. This means the leaves are evergreen, hard, thick, leathery and usually small. These leaf characteristics help the plants conserve water. Chaparral is very hard for humans to hike through but is a haven for many birds, reptiles and mammals who enjoy the shelter and abundant seeds and berries.

Serpentine and Chert
A little trail will be on your left as you come down the hill approximately 1/3 mile after leaving the bench in the chaparral.

This serpentine rock has a waxy, greenish-grey appearance (like a serpent.) Serpentine, our California state rock, has a low calcium to magnesium ratio. The shallow soils are low in essential plant nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus and tend to have high concentrations of heavy metals. Some plants have adapted to serpentine so well that they are only found on those soils. Most non-native plants cannot live in serpentine soils, so some of the most interesting and diverse remnants of native California plant communities can be found on serpentine.

Head uphill, past tee 8 and through the blue oaks to the top of the knoll where there is a bench. The large blocks of rock here are chert. It may be red, green or white. It may display bedding planes, reflecting their original deposition as deep marine sediment layers. Chert is very common in this area