Hiking and Trail Building - Enjoying the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Region
Nate Lillge • November 10, 2026
With the arrival of cooler temperatures, Tuleyome has been able to get people outside to enjoy the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Region. Cowboy Camp, located a mile south of CA-20 on CA-16, is a great starting point for anyone exploring the BLM-managed lands between Cache Creek and Bear Creek. As it's name suggests, it is very popular with equestrians but is also a great place for bird watchers, hunters, hikers, mountain bikers, and astronomers. In October, Tuleyome's Program Director, Nate Lillge, lead a small but adventurous group on a 9-mile hike through Craig Canyon and Thompson Canyon. Despite hearing reports and seeing signs of Tule Elk, the herd remained illusive. True to the areas name, however, many horses were seen on the trail and in Bear Creek. Pictures from the hike are available on Flickr.
Tuleyome co-founder and member of Tuleyome's Advisory Council, Andrew Fulks led a crew at Valley Vista Regional Park to continue our trail work with Yolo County. We were excited to be joined by seasoned trail crew members and gratefully surprised that Bob Schneider, another co-founder and member of Tuleyome's Advisory Council, joined us! Check out the workday photos here.
Be sure to check out our upcoming events! We look forward to seeing you on the trail soon!
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Tuleyome, the expert organization on the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, is offering a multi-week Certified California Naturalist course in early 2027. Instruction focuses on the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument region while providing participants with skills and resources that are applicable anywhere to increase their knowledge, understanding, and enjoyment of the natural world. The Certified California Naturalist course is presented by Tuleyome in partnership with the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. This 8-week course is offered from January to March in 2027, with classes occurring on eight consecutive Fridays plus at least three field trips. Friday classes will be held in downtown Woodland with field trips to northern Inner Coast Range Mountains and western Sacramento Valley. No advanced degrees or previous naturalist experience is required. The UC California Naturalist Program introduces Californians to the wonders of our unique ecology and engages the public in study and stewardship of California’s natural communities. The program uses a science curriculum, hands-on learning, problem-solving, citizen science, and community service to instill a deep appreciation for the natural communities of the state and to inspire individuals to become stewards of their local resources. In addition to in-person instruction, students are required to attend field trips in the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument region. Field trips consist of low-impact walking trips and auto-tours, so they are suitable for all fitness levels. Impromptu walks are also often provided by the instructors as time permits to give participants even more experience in the field. More information is available on our website . Questions about the course should be directed to Nate Lillge at nlillge@tuleyome.org .
I genuinely want to go, I have wanted to for years but I annually find myself looking at the calendar and open-palm smacking my forehead because I let it slip past me again. In case you haven’t deduced by the title, I’m talking about the Sandhill Crane Festival! I think my delinquency issue stems from the fact the arrival of the cranes coincides with my daughter’s arrival date as well. Apparently little kid birthday party planning consumed any of the surplus space left in my brain after working all week. Over the years she’s had delightful birthday parties with her little buddies at the charming and educational Folsom Zoo Sanctuary (that one was my favorite), the quintessential Sacramento lil’ kid party spots like Funderland and Fairytale Town, and a stinky bouncy house place that smelled like dirty socks and sweaty little kids. Unfortunately, while being deep into her girly-girl era and following the sub-teen status quo, my kiddo never wanted a destination birthday party at a festival for big, gray birds. Consequently, during the crane’s advent, I was always knee deep in cupcakes and party favors; but, seeing as how this year she’s turning 24 (time goes way too fast!) I find myself relatively unrestricted for at least a bit of the jubilee and so I shall finally go. The Sandhill Crane Festival began in 1997 through a partnership with the Lodi Sandhill Crane Association, the City of Lodi, the Lodi Chamber of Commerce, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and a throng of local volunteers and fellow crane enthusiasts. The goal of the festival was, and still is, to promote Sandhill Crane conservation focusing primarily on California’s Delta region. The Delta is where the saltwater from the San Francisco Bay combines with freshwater from major rivers such as the Sacramento and the San Joaquin (along with other smaller waterways), creating the largest estuary on the West Coast. This ecosystem is a vital piece of the Pacific Flyway - one of four flightpaths for migrating birds in North America. The Pacific Flyway reaches from the Arctic tundra in Alaska south to Patagonia in South America. This flyway belt is about 4,000 miles long and 1,000 miles wide. Without conservation efforts here the birds traveling thousands of miles twice a year would have a tough time surviving the trip if the refueling and resting stops were not available to them or healthy enough to support the cranes and the other one billion birds that use the flyway biannually. Sandhill Cranes ( Antigone canadensis ) are hard to miss. They stand about five feet tall and have wingspans that range between five and seven feet - equivalent to Michael Jordan and LeBron James. They usually weigh-in around twelve pounds; that’s like a gallon of paint taking to the sky for about 2,000 miles. If their stature doesn’t impress you, their voices will. Their rolling, reverberating calls are a result of their anatomy. Their trachea (wind pipe) is very long and coils around their breastbone which lowers the pitch and amplifies the sound. Sandhill Cranes are social and live in pairs with their life-long mates or in family groups. When it's time for them to journey north or south, large groups of unrelated cranes congregate to migrate, forage and roost together as one large group. They’re among the oldest living birds in North America with fossils dating back an estimated two and a half million years ago; most modern-day birds’ lineages are estimated to be less than two million years old. Beginning in October, thousands of them begin to arrive here in the Central Valley from their northern breeding grounds to spend the winter months. Cranes are impressive aviators and take advantage of thermals to conserve energy on their journey. Some individuals can cover 500 miles a day! They fly with their necks and legs extended creating quite a spectacle in the sky with their silhouettes and their voices. Lodi isn’t the only place that celebrates Sandhill Cranes; Monte Vista, Colorado and the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge in Tennessee also host Sandhill Crane Festivals! If you’re interested in viewing these living dinosaurs here at home, pack up the family and of course your binoculars and take the short drive to Lodi. The festival is centered at the Hutchins Street Community Center at 125 S Hutchins Street, Lodi, CA and officially kicks off on November 6th and continues all weekend wrapping up on the 8th. But wait, there’s more (!) - there are some bonus pre-festival tours scheduled for November 4th and 5th. Admission is free for the main indoor exhibit hall, lectures and vendor areas and paid tickets are required for guided tours, boat cruises, workshops and special events. Tours include the Woodbridge Ecological Preserve, Staten Island and surrounding natural areas. The tours help educate visitors about how wildlife preserves and agricultural lands alike provide critical wintering habitat for resident and migratory bird species and highlight the presence of this magnificent and enduring species. They’re only here for a short while and if you’d like to come eye to eye with a five foot tall bird wearing the most spectacular scarlet crown you’ve ever seen, visit the festival with other Sandhill Crane aficionados. If you can’t make it that weekend, you can still see the cranes by visiting the Woodbridge Ecological Reserve and/or the Cosumnes River Preserve from October through February. Please note before you go that you will need a Lands Pass or a hunting or fishing license to enter the Woodbridge Ecological Reserve. To learn more about the festival and to book a tour, view scheduled presentations and workshops, learn more about the art show, vendors or exhibits, please visit https://lodisandhillcrane.org/about-the-festival/ . Back to the birthday parties… my kiddo just graduated with a biology degree and I know for a fact that she would now be thrilled to celebrate her birthday with the Sandhill Cranes! Times do change, Sandhill Cranes, it turns out, do not.
The calendar may say October but the weather conditions still have you feeling like it’s summer. Regardless of what the thermometer reads, the leaves know what’s up. Leaves are very sensitive to changes in the environment but the explosion of reds, oranges and yellows isn’t triggered by the calendar, or temperature alone, or even by our nasty faces when we hear that it’s still going to be in the upper 80s in the afternoons. What triggers the color transformation does involve temperature somewhat as it relates to the amount of daylight we receive but as the long days of summer gradually drift into the shorter days of fall, our days and nights get cooler and the amount and duration of direct sunlight decreases. As the days get shorter there is less sunlight to be absorbed, the leaves are signaled to stop producing chlorophyll (the pigment that makes leaves green). During summer, the green (because of chlorophyll) leaves are busy absorbing sunlight, like a solar panel, so the tree can have energy to produce new growth, flowers and fruit. Trees also stash away energy to use during the winter months when they can’t produce energy. As the day length and amount of sunlight decreases, the leaves are signaled to stop producing chlorophyll. Fun fact #1 - Trees and shrubs recycle the molecules that make up chlorophyll by breaking them down and then reabsorbing them to reuse next spring, saving them energy! As the chlorophyll breaks down, the green color becomes less prominent and the reds, oranges and yellows become more visible. Where do the other colors come from? It’s sort of like that new species of cat that was just discovered in Bolivia, it’s been there all along. The other colors have been hidden by the green pigment during energy-collecting days of summer. The orange and yellow pigments are called carotenoids. Foods that contain carotenoids include corn, carrots, and mangos. The darker red colors come from a chemical change caused by trapped sugars in the cells of the leaf that produce new pigments called anthocyanins. Foods containing anthocyanins include fruits like blackberries, cherries and strawberries. Fun fact #2 - Some species of oaks and maples often display vibrant red and orange leaves while aspens and ginkos paint the landscape with their stunning yellow leaves. Weather conditions also play a role in the foliage transition. Places that have a majority of dry, sunny days are more likely to have intense color transformations while locations with mainly cool, cloudy days and a higher amount of precipitation may have little to no color change. Additionally, if we have a summer drought or a wet fall, the transition to the other leaf colors may be delayed or subdued. The most dramatic color change happens when we have a warm, wet spring followed by a summer that isn’t overly hot or dry (don’t we wish) and then an autumn with lots of warm, sunny days and cool nights. Sounds ideal to me too. Fun fact #3 - The gold, orange, russet and yellow colors usually remain pretty much the same year after year because those pigments are always present and the amount of them does not change, but when we have several warm and sunny autumn days with cool nights, we may get to see more brilliant reds. The leaves’ job is to feed the tree by absorbing sunlight during the long summer days. Those leaves won’t survive the cold, short days of winter and if they remain attached to the tree, the tree’s health could be threatened. Eventually the tree forms a protective seal between the leaf and the branch and when the leaf stops receiving nutrients from the tree, it turns brown and falls off. Once all the leaves have fallen, photosynthesis stops and the tree survives the barren winter months off the energy and nutrients stored as a result of the leaves' hard work all summer long. When the leaves pile up on the ground, they provide habitat for wildlife such as frogs, insects, salamanders, spiders and snails. Invertebrates such as grubs/beetles, pincher bugs, roly-polies, and millipedes all chew the litter into smaller bits and then fungi and microorganisms break it down ever further returning rich organic matter to the soil. Just like the trees reuse their chlorophyll molecules, nutrients such as calcium, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur are released back into the environment to be used again and again.