Anderson Marsh State Historical Park

This is a mixed habitat location – riparian, grassland, and marsh – at the tail end of ClearLake. It includes a series of interlocking trails, most of which are very easy to walk. Every season can show you something different: flowering teasel, pollinators, birds, dragonflies, deer, lichen.

  • Easy to Locate? Yes
  • Pet Friendly? NO. Leave the dog at home.
  • Easy to Walk? Yes. The trails are well-marked and have little elevation gain.
  • Is there a Fee? Yes. $4 per car payable at the kiosk adjacent to the parking area.
  • Are there Restrooms? Yes. Porta-potties in the parking area.
  • Is there Accessible Parking? Yes.
  • Other Notes: In the summer months, water is an issue and the marsh and Cache Creek may be without water.

See my FLICKR account for more albums of photos taken at this location .

  • Canada Geese, Branta canadensis
  • Bumpy Rim-Lichen, Lecanora hybocarpa [tan to brown apothecia]
  • English Walnut, Juglans regia (top), grafted onto rootstock of Black Walnut, Eastern Black Walnut, Juglans nigra (bottom)
  • Gnarly Valley Oak tree
  • Certified California Naturalist, Roxanne Moger, on the trail
  • The bridge/boardwalk part of the trail
  • Me and the Jerusalem Cricket
  • Can you find the deer in here?
  • Adult doe Mule Deer, Odocoileus hemionus
  • Yearling Mule Deer, Odocoileus hemionus
  • Western Grebe, Aechmophorus occidentalis
  • White Tailed Kite, Elanus leucurus
  • Clark’s Grebe, Aechmophorus clarkii

There are several structures adjacent to the parking area. According to the brochure: “…The complex today includes the ranch house and five small outbuildings. The outbuildings include two non-usable privies from the late 1800s; a double garage (ca. 1930); a smokehouse of 20th-century construction; and a shed and corral built in the 1920s and moved to their current location when Highway 53 was built…”

The Park is located at the southeast corner of Clear Lake, at the formation of Cache Creek, on Hwy 53 between the Cities of Lower Lake and Clearlake, in Lake County, California. Clear Lake is the largest natural lake wholly within the borders of California. Consisting of 1065 acres, the Park includes 540 acres of mainly aquatic tule marsh classified as a Natural Preserve that provides valuable wildlife habitat and one of the largest Great Blue Heron Rookeries on Clear Lake. The Park contains archeological sites of the Southeastern Pomo that are at least 10,000 years old, as well as a 19th Century Ranch House and Barn complex built by the first European settlers on the land. There are hiking and boating trails that allow the visitor to experience several protected habitats within the Park, including freshwater marsh, oak woodland, grasslands and riparian woodland.

How to Get to the Park:

  • From Sacramento
  • Take Interstate 5 North toward the city of Williams
  • Take EXIT 578 from I5 onto Highway 20
  • Turn LEFT onto Highway 20 and head toward the foothills
  • At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit onto Highway 53 South
  • The park will come upon your RIGHT and is well-marked

Travels of a Certified California Naturalist

%d bloggers like this: