Explore the reclaimed farmland to visit 350,000 native plants and lots of endangered animals.
As you enterDos Rios , California ’s newest state park , you ’re like a shot remind of the land ’s farming past times . This is because Dos Rios , located at the meeting of the Tuolumne and San Joaquin rivers some 65 miles west of Yosemite inModesto , was once farmland . Remnants of the land ’s past tense — namely , a vacant barn and three semi - abandoned silo in which an owl has taken residence — are still pronto plain . Meanwhile , just beyond the park entering sits an active sweet almond orchard , which go to the late landowners and should produce testicle for another 10 or so .
But over the last decade , 350,000 aboriginal plants and tree diagram have been planted on the 1,600 - acre flood plain , transforming it into a lush environment that ’s allowed new life to flourish , include menace and threatened critters such as the riparian brush rabbit and valley elderberry longhorn mallet .
Speaking of the park ’s wildlife , on a late Saturday morning hike , I run across a coyote , a Hero , quails , various butterflies , a circular sinister rodent that I ’m pretty sure was a mouse but disappeared into a tunnel before I could name it , several war hawk , bee , and a gorgeous husky sitting with its class . ( Dogs are n’t reserve on the track , but they can link up their people in the day - use area if they ’re on a leash ; visitors , too , must stay put on designated trails unless accompanied by a park forest fire fighter to prevent them from straying off the course , damaging lively plants , or topple into the rivers . ) This various wildlife is a direct result of the punctilious restoration efforts .
Photo by Catherine Downes
Picnic region and ramadas provide guests with position to exhaust and unwind near the entrance of the park . A quarter - stat mi pathway run along the border of a pool , inviting visitors for a scenic walking . While campfires are n’t provide , there are several supply grills , which you’re able to use to cook hot dogs , roast marshmallows , evidence ghost stories , or whatever other activities you would typically do around a fire at a park . And while the pond next to the community sphere look brisk , there ’s no way to access it from the mainland — fishing , boating of any sort , and swim are presently veto .
But that does n’t mean that wo n’t deepen . As car park handler Paige Haller puts it , “ mass can grow with us . The plants are growing and so is Dos Rios . ”
Dos Rios is located at 3559 Shiloh Road , Modesto , CA 95358 . commons hour are Friday through Sunday from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. There are currently no fees to get in ( this may change in the time to come , so checktheir websiteto ensure ) .
Photo by Catherine Downes
Photo by Catherine Downes
