Carrizo Plain / California Valley

Carrizo Plain

California Valley

Carrizo Plain: Designated as a national monument January 3, 2001

(Facts: 250,000 acres total, 45 miles long, 10 miles wide.

Pocketed between the coastal ranges of eastern San Luis Obispo County lies the austere, Carrizo Plain. There is, on the Carrizo, a wildness much like California would have been 300 years ago. Known to the Spanish as a salt marsh plain, this arid and treeless basin harbors the largest remaining example of the habitats that were once abundant in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Most of the surviving habitat is protected within the boundaries of the 250,000 acre Carrizo Plain National Monument where an array of rare plants and animals, including the greatest concentration of threatened and endangered vertebrates in the state, continue to thrive.

Chumash and Yokut Indians frequented the area followed by the Spanish missions that grazed the land in the early 1800s. Dry land grain farming joined ranching as a major human use of the Carrizo Plain in 1885 when the first homesteaders began to settle there. It wasn’t until 1912, and the advent of mechanized agriculture, that large-scale farming became possible, however, Carrizo’s limited and unpredictable rainfall averaging 8 – 10” per year, made such ventures risky.

CaliforniaValley:

In the early 60’s developers purchased a 25,000 acre ranch on the Carrizo Plain and subdivided it into 7,250 2 1/2 acre parcels. A motel, restaurant, general store, gas station and small air strip were included in the development. Extensive advertising all over the United States offered everyone a chance to purchase inexpensive land in California. Many of the parcels were purchased sight unseen.

Located off highway 58 on Soda Lake Rd, California Valley has developed into a small rural community over the years. There are approximately 175 homes and 250-300 residents. Atascadero Unified School District services the needs of the children living in the community as well as the surrounding ranches on the Carrizo Plain. The district maintains a school for K – 8^th Grade. High School students are bused to Atascadero High School approximately 50 miles. For more information on the Carrizo Plain (805) 466-2044, or visit www.ca.blm.gov/bakersfield/carrizoplain.html.