Sequoia Riverlands Trust’s McCarthy Blue Oak Ranch Preserve, still a working cattle ranch in the foothills above Springville, protects over 900 acres of blue oak woodland. Its pond, streams, trails, historical and archaeological sites, educational events and activities, wildlife, and wildflowers attract students and visitors of all ages. For spectacular scenery, backpacking, birding, camping, hiking, photography, picnicking, fishing, wildlife and wildflower viewing, fall colors, a ranger station/visitor center, historic cabins and mining sites, lakes, streams, and waterfalls — and nearby food and lodging, Sequoia National Park’s sublime Mineral King is definitely worth the steep, winding 25-mile drive from Three Rivers (road closed in winter). Videos included. In 1910, Tulare County acquired 100 acres of remnant Valley oak forest from descendants of the pioneer Mooney family and turned them into Mooney Grove Park, which today includes two major museums, a barn full of historic agricultural equipment, a baseball field, a disc golf course, a dog park, a Pioneer Village, shady picnic arbors, an inclusive playground, a lagoon, and the End of the Trail statue — for a very full day in the park. People of all ages can safely summit Sequoia National Park’s Moro Rock, thanks to the amazing Moro Rock Stairway. Built in 1931, its 400 steps lead visitors safely and steeply for a quarter mile up the great granite dome to a breathtaking 360-degree panorama of one of the finest views in the southern Sierra Nevada, from 13,000 foot peaks down a mile-deep canyon to the Valley floor. Visit Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest near Springville to enjoy archaeological and historical sites, backpacking, birding, camping, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, hunting, photography, picnicking, rock climbing, scenic drives, wildlife viewing, and observing managed logging activity on this unique forest dedicated to research, demonstration, recreation, education, and sustainability. Includes video. Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks’ trail crews are responsible for creating and maintaining over a thousand miles of trails, working long and arduous days in every kind of weather, often in remote backcountry, at elevations ranging from 2,000 to 14,495 feet. Find out who they are, what they do, and what it takes to get on a trail crew. This job “guarantees an unforgettable experience.” Two intriguing Tulare County automobile tours — one following the Kaweah River drainage, one in the Tule River watershed — give fascinating glimpses of the lives and landscapes of the vital Yokuts and Monache people who have lived here for dozens of centuries, sustained by the Native American Conservation practices that many continue today, and that we still have much to learn from. Owens Peak, at 8,445′, the highest in the southern Sierra Nevada, rises in the center of its rugged 73,767-acre namesake wilderness. Here, the Great Basin, Mojave Desert, and Sierra Nevada ecoregions converge, providing a great diversity of plant life — from desert creosote, yucca, and cacti to numerous forested peaks — as well as two distinct climate zones, plenty of wildlife, vast views, and very starry night skies. Big canyons host springs, oaks, and cottonwoods. Trails include a stretch of the PCT and many use trails, such as peakbaggers’. Hot summers, good shoulder seasons. The Pacific Crest Trail travels about 125 miles within Tulare County, from mile-high high-desert expanses in the south to the trail’s highest point, atop Forester Pass (13,200′), in the High Sierra — living up to its National Scenic Trail designation all the way. With a shuttle set-up, you can hike Tulare County top to bottom (or vice-versa) on the PCT, or you can explore the PCT’s glorious TC landscapes in several shorter segments. If you can’t hike the whole 2,600-mile PCT, you can experience much of the awesome best of it right here in Tulare County. In summertime, Sequoia National Park’s Pear Lake Ski Hut serves as a ranger station, but in snow season this outstanding CCC-built rustic alpine structure, six steep super-scenic miles in from the trailhead, provides shelter, warmth, bunks, a kitchen, a toilet, and unlimited High Sierra terrain rising right outside the door, a wonderland for snowshoers, downhill and cross-country skiers, and lovers of winter. Pixley National Wildlife Refuge provides 6,939 acres of protected habitat year-round for many species of plants and animals. From late September until early March, its skies and wetlands fill with thousands of migratory ducks, geese, and cranes, drawing birders and photographers down its nature trail to the viewing platform for the sunset fly-in spectacle that’s “one of the premiere nature events in Tulare County.” During the Great Depression, the people of Pixley and its neighbors, Tulare County officials and staff, the New Deal’s Works Project Administration, and the CCC came together to create 22-acre Pixley Park, still an oasis for locals and Highway 99 travelers, with shade trees, green lawns, picnic facilities, playground equipment, a restroom, a soccer field, a disc golf course, and some historical highlights, too. Pixley Vernal Pools Preserve, the only designated National Natural Landmark in Tulare County, is only about four miles from Pixley. Vernal pools were once common in much of our county. They form in shallow depressions in impermeable (hardpan) clay soils after sufficient winter rains. Now vernal pools are rare here because farming deep-rips the hardpan, draining the water away from the surface. Preserved hardpan depressions like Pixley’s hold the water that yields colorful “fairy rings” of spring flowers at the pools’ margins, and the fascinating tiny fairy shrimp, self-burying spadefoots, and other creatures that thrive within them. Burrowing owls, ground squirrels, and raptors thrive here, too. Built in 1879, the two-storey Pogue Hotel offered dining and lodging to travelers en route from the Valley to the mountains. A Lemon Cove landmark, this enduring edifice has also been a rooming house, a family home, and, since 1936, the Lemon Cove Women’s Club, promoting community service and protecting and sharing Lemon Cove’s eventful history with public events throughout the year. Porterville Historical Museum opened in 1965, in the classic Mission style Southern Pacific Railroad Depot that served the railroad from 1913 until the late 1950s. The museum has changed the historic structure as little as possible while installing a wonderful variety of exhibits, indoors and out, including Native American crafting, Porterville’s Pioneers, farm and fire equipment, Native Wildlife, a Salute to Veterans,and much more, along with special events such as lectures and appraisals, a big annual holiday toy and model train show, ghost hunting tours, and fundraising parties. Porterville’s history is kept alive and growing here. Both of these remarkable post offices opened in 1934, during the Great Depression, and have served their communities continuously ever since. Their distinctive Streamline Moderne architecture; classical proportions; striking details and Art Deco motifs inside and out; richly varied materials; and high quality construction continue to connect us to our history and to delight and serve us well. Sequoia National Park’s historic Quinn Ranger Station, built in 1907 beside a new “first-class” trail connecting it to Hockett Meadows, is the only ranger station remaining from when the U.S. Army administered the park. Now a patrol cabin, sturdy Quinn still serves park rangers, trail crews, pack trains, and snow surveyors seasonally. Fishing, campsites, and Soda Spring Creek are nearby. Irish immigrant Harry Quinn became a leading citizen in Tulare and Kern counties, and a major figure in the Valley’s sheep industry, whose vast flocks drastically overgrazed the high country each summer and caused endless problems for the U.S. cavalry administering Sequoia National Park in its early years. Here’s the wide-ranging story behind Quinn Peak, Quinn’s Horse Camp, and Quinn Ranger Station. McCARTHY BLUE OAK RANCH PRESERVE
MINERAL KING
MOONEY GROVE PARK
MORO ROCK STAIRWAY
MOUNTAIN HOME DEMONSTRATION STATE FOREST
NATIONAL PARKS TRAIL CREWS
NATIVE AMERICAN CONSERVATION
OWENS PEAK WILDERNESS
PACIFIC CREST TRAIL
PEAR LAKE SKI HUT
PIXLEY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
PIXLEY PARK
PIXLEY VERNAL POOLS PRESERVE
POGUE HOTEL
PORTERVILLE HISTORICAL MUSEUM
POST OFFICES: PORTERVILLE MAIN & VISALIA TOWN CENTER
QUINN RANGER STATION
QUINN RANGER STATION: Harry Quinn, the Early Sheep Industry, and the National Parks
