School’s out and it’s time for kids to get away from Zooming at the computer and out into nature. This shady 1.4-mile loop in Cascade Canyon Open Space in Fairfax would be a great way to start off summer.
Just past the entrance to Elliott Nature Preserve, which is the start of Cascade Canyon Open Space, turn left. Right before you cross the dry creek, look at the small square of fenced-in plants on your right. Beware, most of what you see is poison oak. But looking carefully, you will also see the heart-shaped leaves of California pipevine and, with luck, you might see a black and red pipevine swallowtail caterpillar eating a leaf or fruit. The aristolochic acid they obtain from the pipevine makes birds avoid eating the caterpillars. Please keep in mind that collecting any animals, including insects, is prohibited in all open space preserves.
Cross the dry creek bed and take the unmarked trail on your left. Turn left, and take the signed right fork, which is Camp Carey Trail. An understory of wood ferns, sword ferns and maidenhair grows beneath the canopy of bay, buckeye and valley oaks. There are still some late bloomers providing splashes of color — pink milkwort, orange sticky monkeyflower and purple Ithuriel’s spear and harvest brodiaea. The latter two are in the same family and confuse many people since they are both purple and have multiple six-petaled flowers. Look carefully at the anthers, the male part of the plant that produces pollen. In Ithuriel’s spear, all six stamens are fertile and look-alike. In the harvest brodiaea, there are three fertile stamens and three infertile strap-like ones that look quite different.
After you cross a wooden bridge over a dry creek, turn right, and immediately cross a second bridge. I spotted a Lorquin’s admiral butterfly as I hiked. It lays eggs on ocean spray, a shrub you will see in bloom along the trail. Its cascading white blossoms are like white foam on the edges of cresting waves.
Photo by Wendy Dreskin
Ocean spray can be seen in bloom now at the Cascade Canyon Open Space in Fairfax.The sound of water in a creek always seems especially refreshing once the grasses on the hills are drying up. At .7 miles, cross Camp Carey Creek, noticing the giant chain fern on the left and the many horsetails on the right. Be sure to look for water striders in the creek. They can travel 100 body lengths per second. Use the calculator in your phone to figure out how many miles an hour that would be for your child’s height. For your reference, an average swimmer swims about two mph and an Olympic swimmer can reach six mph.
On the other side of the creek, there is a lovely patch of farewell-to-spring, a pink flower that has a deeper pink spot on each petal. In a rocky area on your left, a yellow-flowered succulent is just starting to bloom. Calflora calls it rock lettuce and iNaturalist calls the same plant canyon live-forever.
After a short, steep downhill, which is enough to make some hikers use their poles, the path levels out and it is possible to get down to explore the creek without going through poison oak. This is also a lovely place for a snack or picnic.
When you meet Cascade Fire Road, turn right and cross the dry creek, or if your child likes looking at rocks, walk in the creek bed. If you follow the trail, you will pass a native snapdragon and a lovely patch of coyote mint in bloom. Either way, you will soon be back at the end of Cascade Drive, having completed the loop.
Suggested items for a child’s treasure hunt:
• Six kinds of pink flowers. Nevermind the names, just have your children see how many different ones they can find. Take photos, so they can compare possible new finds with ones they have seen. Feel free to email me if you want to know the six that I found.
• A baby acorn (clue — they are about the size of a pea now)
• A baby bay nut
• Three kinds of purple flowers
• Two kinds of butterflies
• Poison oak berries
• A water skeeter
To get to Cascade Canyon Open Space from Highway 101, take Sir Francis Drake Blvd 3.4 miles west to Fairfax. Turn left onto Pacheco Avenue, then right onto Broadway and make the first left onto Bolinas Road. In 0.4 miles, a slight right at a stop sign puts you onto Cascade Drive. Go about 1.5 miles to the dead end.
Note: Parking is limited. Please be considerate of residents and do not block driveways or park on private property.
Wendy Dreskin has led the College of Marin nature/hiking class Meandering in Marin since 1998, and teaches other nature classes for adults and children. To contact her, go to wendydreskin.com
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June 15, 2020 at 02:02AM
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Marin hike: Start summer with a short, shady trek perfect for kids - Marin Independent Journal
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