Austin Creek State Recreation Area
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Austin Creek State Recreation Area is an isolated wilderness area in Sonoma County, California, adjacent to Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve, with which it shares a common entrance. Its rugged topography includes ravines, grassy hillsides, oak capped knolls, and rocky summits offering glimpses of the Pacific Ocean. There are 20 mi (30 km) of trails, panoramic wilderness views, and camping (both back-country and vehicle-accessible). The remains of Pond Farm artists' colony (dating from the 1940s) are also included in the Austin Creek SRA.
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[edit] Ecology
Elevations in Austin Creek SRA vary between 150 and 1500 feet (50 to 500 m), giving rise to a variety of habitats, including riparian area, chaparral, and woodlands of conifers and oaks. The area's 6,000 acres (24 km²) include open woodlands, rolling hills, and meadows which contrast sharply with dense redwood forests below.
Wildflowers of the area include Douglas Irises, Indian Paintbrushes, buttercups, lupins, brodiaes, California poppies and Shooting Stars. Trout, salmon, newts and salamanders inhabit the area's streams, and Bullfrog Pond hosts sunfish, Black Bass, and bullfrogs. Birds such as Wild Turkeys, Wood Ducks, Spotted Owls, great blue herons, ravens, Black-shouldered Kites, California Quail, woodpeckers, hawks, and tyrant-flycatchers are seen there. Native animals include squirrels, deer, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, skunks, bobcats, Black Bears, and Mountain Lions. Feral pigs have also been reported.
[edit] Proposed for closure
Austin Creek State Recreation Area is one of the 48 California state parks proposed for closure in January 2008 by California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as part of a deficit reduction program.[1]
