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Calavera Nature Preserve - on the eastern edge of
Calavera Hills the city has carved out a piece of land as a nature preserve.
This beautiful 110-acre site features Mount Calavera and has over four miles
of hiking and biking trials. Just to the north and northeast of the
preserve is the 400-acre Lake Calavera Reservoir, managed by the Carlsbad
Municipal Water District. And just to the south of the preserve is the
400-acre Carlsbad Highlands Ecological Reserve, managed by the California
Department of Fish and Game.
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Volunteers, land managers and Carlsbad City
Staff have worked together for a number of years to restore and clean up the
area, control erosion, build useable trails, remove invasive plants and
re-vegetate with indigenous plants. Elementary school students have
seeded the preserve and performed field studies. Carlsbad Juvenile
Justice program participants have wielded picks and shovels to aid the
restoration. According to one volunteer, "City staff have helped make
this 'hidden jewel' a safe, beautiful place for our families to enjoy the
outdoors. Together we have done a lot."* Additional
developmental work on the trail system and a hiking 'staging area' will
continue for the next several years.
Carlsbad's Habitat Management Plan is the basis for
much of the planning and restoration in the area.
The
entire area
is habitat to an identified 115 plant, 49 bird, 10 mammal and 7
amphibian/reptile species. Of these identified species, 6 are classified as
threatened or endangered. Among the area's endangered species are the
Thread-leaved
Brodiaea,
Orange-throated Whiptail
and the
California Gnatcatcher.
The California Gnatcatcher is perhaps the most threatened of these species
because 85% of it's natural habitat, the Diegan Coastal Sage Scrub, has been
destroyed by development. Lake Calavera and the stream feeding it create a
riparian and wetland habitat for other species as well.
The word
'calavera' means skull, which
probably comes from the unusual shape of the area's centerpiece,
Mount Calavera.
The 513-ft. Mount Calavera is not really a mountain at all but rather a 22
million-year-old volcanic plug. A volcanic plug is a mass of volcanic rock
that solidified in it's vent and feeding system millions of years ago. When
the volcano becomes extinct and starts to erode away, the "plug" is all that
is left behind. Mount Calavera is one of only three volcanic plugs in
Southern California. In the early 1900's, the ancient plug was mined for
gravel. The mining was accomplished by stripping away it's west face and
continued into the 1930's. What is left is a rather remarkable blemish on
the side of the mountain that somewhat resembles the Grand Canyon.
Lake Calavera is actually a man-made
reservoir. The
dam
at the south end of the lake is 67-ft. high
and 490-ft across at the crest. It took 85,000 cubic yards of material to
build and was completed in 1940. The total storage capacity of the lake is
520 acre-ft.**
If you would like to know more
the the Calavera Nature Preserve and the surrounding open area, please
follow this link to the city created Carlsbad Habitat Management Plan
organization at:
www.CarlsbadHMP.org
Or if you
would be interested in volunteering with the city to help with the Calavera
Hills open areas, please call 760.434.2929.
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