North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve, Protected nature area in Oroville, California.
North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve is a protected area near Oroville in northern California, set on a raised basalt plateau shaped by volcanic rock formations, open grasslands, and seasonal waterfalls. After winter rains, shallow rock basins fill with water and form temporary pools that dry up again by spring.
California acquired this land in 1993 to protect a rare system of seasonal rock pools that exists at this scale in very few other places. The funds came from a state conservation program focused on saving habitats at risk.
Visitors walking through the reserve in spring can spot rare plants that grow only in the Oroville area, including Butte County meadowfoam, a flowering plant found nowhere else on Earth. The rock pools that fill with rainwater are the only habitats where these species can survive.
A valid day or annual pass is required to enter, except for those who hold a valid hunting or fishing license. The best time to visit is from January to April, when the seasonal waterfalls are running and the rock pools have filled with water.
The reserve holds one of only 4 known sites in California where Northern Basalt Flow Vernal Pools occur, a type of seasonal rock pool that can only form on certain volcanic surfaces. The combination of basalt rock and the local climate creates the precise conditions these pools need, and those conditions rarely come together elsewhere.
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