Trip Report: Crystal Creek Water Ditch April 2026

Our outing on April 26 to the Crystal Creek Water Ditch Trail was met with cool cloudy conditions and not a drop of rain in sight. The purpose of this field trip was to participate in the Shasta County City Nature Challenge by documenting as much biodiversity as possible on this short trail. This eager group was already on the job of taking photos to upload to iNaturalist as soon as they jumped out of their cars in the parking lot. 

Before hitting the trail, we were treated to a brief history of Whiskeytown National Recreation Area and the Crystal Creek Water Ditch Trail by the park’s Volunteer Ambassador, Greta Davis. The currently dry water ditch was dug out by hand in the mid 1850s and used to service various needs such as mining operations and orchard irrigation, but on this day, it was a frequent location of interesting wildflowers and insects.

Local naturalist and birder Ross Schaefer led our group along the trail identifying birds by sound and the numerous native plants along this trail. Based on the extensive number of photos taken by all of the participants, this trail is a “superhost” of biodiversity. The star observation of the day was easily the gorgeous Anise Swallowtail caterpillar! Those of us who participated in this same event last year noticed a decline in wildflower blooms, possibly due to the mid-March heat wave. Nevertheless, the deerbrush, woolly sunflowers, ookow, lupine, mountain phacelia, and fiddlenecks provided splashes of color throughout the trail. A fun find on the return trip was a blooming Pacific bleeding heart. 

The City Nature Challenge project may be done for the year, but documenting observations on iNaturalist is valuable year-round, as the data may be used for conservation research and efforts. It’s also a fun way to slow down and notice all the amazing lifeforms we have right in our own backyard.