Benicia State Recreation Area is a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

unit of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, United States, protecting tidal wetland. It is located in the

Solano County Solano County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 453,491. The county seat is Fairfield. Solano County comprises the Vallejo–Fairfield, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which i ...

city of

Benicia Benicia ( , ) is a waterside city in Solano County, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It served as the capital of California for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. The population was 26,997 at th ...

, west of downtown

and borders Vallejo's Glen Cove neighborhood. The park covers of

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found ...

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns a ...

y hillsides and rocky

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc s ...

es along the narrowest portion of the

Carquinez Strait The Carquinez Strait (; Spanish: ''Estrecho de Carquinez'') is a narrow tidal strait in Northern California. It is part of the tidal estuary of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers as they drain into the San Francisco Bay. The strait is ...

Southampton Creek Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers P ...

and the

tidal marsh A tidal marsh (also known as a type of "tidal wetland") is a marsh found along rivers, coasts and estuaries which floods and drains by the tidal movement of the adjacent estuary, sea or ocean. Tidal marshes are commonly zoned into lower marshes ( ...

front Southampton Bay, where the combined waters of the

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

and

San Joaquin River The San Joaquin River (; es, Río San Joaquín) is the longest river of Central California. The long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suis ...

s approach

San Pablo Bay San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of San Francisco Bay in the East Bay and North Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. Most of the Bay is shallow; however, there is a deep wate ...

, the northern portion of

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water f ...

History

Don José de Cañizares — diarist on the 1769 overland

Portola expedition Portola may refer to: * ''Portola'' (album), a 1998 album by Rose Melberg * Portola, California * Portola, San Francisco, California People with the surname * Gaspar de Portolá Gaspar de Portolá y Rovira (January 1, 1716 – October 10, 1 ...

and who sailed with Don Juan Manuel de Ayala on the ''San Carlos'', the first ship to enter San Francisco Bay on August 5, 1775 — named the cove north and west of Benicia Puerto de las Asunta (''Assumption Harbor'' in Spanish) because he discovered it on that

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context do ...

in 1775. The cove is noted as "J" on Cañizares' famous 1781 Map of San Francisco Bay. The present name, Southampton Bay, is for the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

frigate ''Southampton'', which Commodore Thomas ap Catesby Jones sailed, along with a small fleet, to the cove in 1849. The sandstone point at Benicia SRA has been known as Rocky Point, Quarry Point and now Dillon Point. Stonecutter Patrick Dillon came to California from Tipperary, Ireland, during the 1849

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California f ...

, settling in Benicia in 1851. General Vallejo leased Dillon the tidal flat at Southampton Bay and Rocky Point peninsula for a sandstone quarry. When the sandstone played out, the Dillon family and subsequent owners raised sheep and grapes until the State acquired the property in 1967.

Habitat and wildlife

The Southampton Bay Wetland Natural Preserve makes up 70% of the park. The Southampton mudflat formed eroded upriver silt and clay deposits exceeds thick. The principal habitats here are

brackish marsh Brackish marshes develop from salt marshes where a significant freshwater influx dilutes the seawater to brackish levels of salinity. This commonly happens upstream from salt marshes by estuaries of coastal rivers or near the mouths of coastal riv ...

, saltwater marsh and freshwater marsh. This rare and endangered wetland ecosystem is covered with marsh plants such as salt grass (''Distichlis spicata''),

pickleweed Pickleweed is a common name used for two unrelated genera of flowering plants: *'' Batis'', family Bataceae *''Salicornia ''Salicornia'' is a genus of succulent, halophytic (salt tolerant) flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae that grow ...

(''Batis maritima''),

coyote bush ''Baccharis pilularis'', called coyote brush (or bush), chaparral broom, and bush baccharis, is a shrub in the family Asteraceae native to California, Oregon, Washington, and Baja California. There are reports of isolated populations in New Mexi ...

(''Baccharis pilularis'') and soft bird's-beak (''Cordylanthus mollis''). Bird’s-beak is an endangered gray-green annual herb in the snapdragon family. Park mammals include the federally endangered northern salt marsh harvest mice (''Reithrodontomys raviventris halicoetes''). Other mammals living in the park are

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological nich ...

(''Canis latrans''), river otter (''Lontra canadensis''),

muskrat The muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands over a wide range of climates and habita ...

(''Ondatra zibethicus'') and California golden beaver (''Castor canadensis subauratus''). The

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers a ...

probably migrated from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in 2007. Historically, before the

California Fur Rush Before the 1849 California Gold Rush, American, English and Russian fur hunters were drawn to Spanish (and then Mexican) California in a California Fur Rush, to exploit its enormous fur resources. Before 1825, these Europeans were drawn to the north ...

of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Delta probably held the largest concentration of beaver in North America. It was California's early fur trade, more than any other single factor, that opened up the West, and the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area G ...

in particular, to world trade. In 1840, explorer Captain Thomas Farnham wrote that "There is probably no spot of equal extent in the whole continent of America which contains so many of these muchsought animals." Benicia SRA has been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Inte ...

, providing habitat for endangered

California clapper rail Ridgway's rail (''Rallus obsoletus'') is a near-threatened species of bird. It is found principally in California's San Francisco Bay to southern Baja California. A member of the rail family, Rallidae, it is a chicken-sized bird that rarely fli ...

s (''Rallus longirostris obsoletus'') and black rails (''Laterallus jamaicensis''). Other uncommon species include Virginia rails (''Rallus limicola''), Suisun song sparrows (''Melospiza melodia maxillaris'') and salt marsh common yellowthroat (''Geothlypis trichas sinuosa''). On their journey along the Pacific Flyway, many waterfowl winter in the park.

Recreation

Cyclists Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

, runners, walkers and

roller skaters Roller skating is the act of traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on streets, si ...

enjoy the park's 2.5 miles (4 km) of road and bike paths. The Hike and Bike Trail—two parallel, paved, accessible trails—begins at the Military West entrance and runs 0.75 miles to the main park entrance, joining Dillon Point Road for 1.5 miles. The trail system is part of the

Bay Area Ridge Trail The Bay Area Ridge Trail (Ridge Trail) is a planned multi-use trail along the hill and mountain ridgelines ringing the San Francisco Bay Area, in Northern California. Currently, have been established. When complete, the trail will connect ov ...

and

San Francisco Bay Trail The San Francisco Bay Trail is a bicycle and pedestrian trail that when finished will allow continuous travel around the shoreline of San Francisco Bay. As of 2020, of the trail have been completed. When finished, the trail will be over of p ...

. Most popular is the 1.5-mile-long walk out to Dillon Point on the park road.

Picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors ( ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event such as preceding ...

king is available at the group picnic area, one mile into the park. The Forrest Deaner Native Plants Botanic Garden is located at the end of the picnic area, offering displays of and information about plants native to the Bay Area. From the top of Dillon Point, you can trace the route of the Carquinez Strait Scenic Loop Trail, a 50-mile route that will, when finished, ring the strait. Dillon's Point offers prime shore fishing for

white sturgeon White sturgeon (''Acipenser transmontanus'') is a species of sturgeon in the family Acipenseridae of the order Acipenseriformes. They are an anadromous fish species ranging in the Eastern Pacific; from the Gulf of Alaska to Monterey, California. ...

(''Acipenser transmontanus''),

starry flounder The starry flounder (''Platichthys stellatus''), also known as the grindstone, emery wheel and long-nosed flounder, is a common flatfish found around the margins of the North Pacific. The distinctive features of the starry flounder include the c ...

(''Platichthys stellatus'') and

striped bass The striped bass (''Morone saxatilis''), also called the Atlantic striped bass, striper, linesider, rock, or rockfish, is an anadromous perciform fish of the family Moronidae found primarily along the Atlantic coast of North America. It has ...

(''Morone saxatilis'').

Gallery

View from Benicia State Recreation Area 2022-04-24 175229 100 4278.jpg, A view from the B. S. R. A. toward

Mount Diablo Mount Diablo is a mountain of the Diablo Range, in Contra Costa County of the eastern San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California. It is south of Clayton and northeast of Danville. It is an isolated upthrust peak of , visible from most ...

View from Benicia State Recreation Area 2022-04-24 175234 100 4279.jpg, A view from the B. S. R. A.

References

External links