Work at NCRLT’s Deer Creek Preserve, “Gem of the Sierra” (2012 to today)

The entrance to the K-Line Road trail head is marked by a locked gate to prevent vehicles from entering, and a NCRLT sign.

The Deer Creek Preserve is a 600-acre, wildland preserve bisected from east-west by Deer Creek. The Lower Deer Creek Falls Trail climbs through the canyon’s chiseled rock faces, allowing hikers to experience the vertical relief of the canyon. NCRLT is honored to steward this property for public benefit, working with our conservation partners to preserve biodiversity and maintain ecological processes in this watershed critical for salmon, an endangered species.

Long before any agencies or nonprofit organizations cared for it, the Yana and Yahi people stewarded this land since time immemorial. With the native people’s removal and extermination, also removed was the connection between people and the land.

Northern California Regional Land Trust (NCRLT) accepted fee title for the Deer Creek Preserve (Preserve) from Western Rivers Conservancy on March 30th of 2012, with a grant from California’s Wildlife Conservation Board. A transfer of ownership condition was to create a management plan for the Preserve, to guide establishment of the conservation and public access goals for the property, and ensure they are maintained in perpetuity (forever). In 2015-2016 the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) upgraded the fish passage structure at Lower Deer Creek Falls to benefit Chinook salmon, steelhead and other aquatic fish and wildlife species. The Lower Deer Creek Recreation Trail starts at the Red Bridge trailhead on Highway 32 and travels along Deer Creek for 3.3 miles and is open to the public year-round.

NCRLT Hikes & Improvements (2022-2024):

NCRLT staff launched our “Take a Hike” series of guided hikes to promote the preserve, steadily increasing hike frequency and expanding topics, in coordination with partner agencies and resource specialists to lead them. In 2024, NCRLT installed new preserve signs in partnership with Scout Troop (Blog: Welcome to the Deer Creek Trail!).

Environmental Compliance, Recreational Improvements, Fuels Reduction (2024-2027):

The Department of Conservation’s Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program awarded a block grant to Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) for administration of funding to needed projects and properties in their service region, and through a request by the Butte County Resource Conservation District, NCRLT received project funding.

NCRLT selected natural resource specialists to conduct archaeological/cultural resources and botanical surveys on the Preserve, which begins this Spring and Summer. Survey findings will support creation of a Deer Creek Preserve environmental compliance document, used to implement fuels reduction work and prescribed burns on the Preserve, and also to inform any timber management or harvest. Butte County Resources Conservation District (BCRCD) is the lead agency for the CEQA work and to create the Prescribed Burn Plan for the Preserve.  

Due to concerted effort by firefighters and contractors fighting the 2024 Park Fire, impacts  from the Park Fire to the Preserve were minimal, but ample fuels have built up. Post-Park Fire, the Preserve lay between what has burned in the lower Deer Creek watershed, and the resources and riparian assets protections of the upper watershed.

So, get ready to TAKE A HIKE at the Deer Creek Preserve! NCRLT cordially invites you to join resource specialists, citizen scientists, staff, and families on our upcoming spring and summer hikes. And as always, the Deer Creek Trail is open to the public year-round for hiking, please don’t camp, light fires, destroy things, or hunt on the Preserve.

See you on the trail!