BLM Dispatch #8 - Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument
Building on my last dispatch from the Cache Creek Natural Area, we now move to its next door neighbor: the massive 344,476-acre Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument.
Designated by President Obama in 2015 and named for its two geographic anchors — Berryessa Peak in the south and Snow Mountain to the north — this monument forms a stunning hundred-mile corridor through California’s Inner Coast Ranges, with elevations ranging from near sea level to over 7,000 feet. The U.S. Forest Service oversees the northern half; the Bureau of Land Management stewards the southern stretch, including Molok Luyuk, a sacred ridge newly added in 2023. That addition is now co-stewarded by the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation.
I’ve visited Berryessa many times over the past several years, but one of the most memorable trips came in April 2022, when I set out with two of my sisters for a half marathon day hike into the Cache Creek Wilderness, one of the Monument’s most remote and rewarding corners…
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BLM Dispatch #7 - Cache Creek Natural Area
Welcome to the Cache Creek Natural Area.
The sheer abundance of greenery, spanning every imaginable shade, is reason enough to visit. The grasslands have patches of emerald, lime, and neon. The blue oaks are starting to leaf out, their new growth a darker, foresty kind of green. Wavy-leaf soap plants stretch up in pale pistachio stalks. Hillsides dotted with gray pines soften the view with their muted sage and gray undertones — earning them their nickname, Ghost Pines, for their spectral, ethereal presence in early light.
For the walkers, this place is paradise. While there are dozens of miles of developed trails, you can also have a field day choosing your own route up and down the foothills, weaving between the gnarled bark of the blue oaks, stopping to inspect whatever catches your eye…
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