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Peytonia Slough Ecological Reserve

Train line: Amtrak Capitol Corridor Station stop: Suisun-Fairfield, 177 Main St., Suisun City, CA 94585 Distance to trailhead: 0.8 mi. (urban) Total roundtrip hiking distance from station: About 4 miles Amenities nearby: restaurants, coffee, restrooms, grocery, galleries, thrift, park, bait & tackle Rating: Easy Hike duration: 3 hours Website: http://1.usa.gov/GSutWI Trailhead coordinates (map linked): 38.23227 -122.03817

Summary: Of all the public lands in California, among the least known are the ecological reserves managed by the state Department of Fish and Game. Peytonia Slough is one of these, and on the small side at 520 acres. Yet it offers an easy, short hike among rare species, trickling sloughs, groaning frogs and birdsong. Fishing is allowed from the preserve shoreline. Unique features: The reserve was created to protect habitat for several rare species, including the endangered northern salt marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris halicoetes) and the Suisun thistle (Cirsium hydrophilum). The latter was thought to be extinct until rediscovered in 1989. The train station: The Suisun City Train Depot is open for passenger services weekdays 6 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and includes restrooms, ticketing and baggage service, waiting area, pay phone and free wireless internet. The Waterfront Cafe inside is open weekdays from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m.

2013 Matt Weiser

Directions: From the train station, walk due east across a circular park plaza to Main Street. Walk south on Main Street, turn left on Cordelia Street and follow for one block, then turn right on Kellogg Street. Follow Kellogg until it dead-ends. The trailhead is on your left at the end of an asphalt parking lot. Alternative: Instead of turning at Cordelia, turn sooner at Solano St. and follow the city waterfront down to the public boat launch ramp, which also provides access to the trailhead through a chain-link fence. The launch ramp includes a shaded picnic area and a large floating dock, both of which make nice lunch spots. Public restrooms are also available there. The walk to the trailhead takes you through Suisun City, a sleepy waterfront town with an abundance of restaurants but little else in the way of shops. Virgil's Bait Shop near the train station offers fishing supplies, trail snacks and a full-service bar. The Port of Call Market at 715 Main St. has more complete grocery offerings. Description: The trail is an easy one-way trip, about a half-mile, to a point of land where Suisun and Peytonia sloughs converge. The trail is narrow, shadeless, and may be brushy. That said, it is a pleasant walk among tules, cattails, blackberry Click for live map view bushes and tiny wildflowers. The trail is easy to follow and generally clean. The route parallels Suisun Slough, and along the way there are several short trails forking left, through small clearings, which offer picnic spots and fishing access. About halfway to the point is a major trail forking right. Also a one-way route, this crosses a narrow footbridge over a small tidal creek, then reaches the shore of Peytonia Slough. During a May visit, the trail beyond the bridge had not yet been mowed for the season, and was nearly impassable with waist-high grass and tules. On either trail, it is worth keeping an eye out for the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse, which is only about 3 inches long and weighs about one-third of an ounce. Its scientific name means grooved-toothed mouse with red belly. However, few examples actually have reddish belly fur, apparently, and most will have pale or white bellies. All are known to have thick, dark fur on their backs. Also look for the endangered Suisun thistle. It grows 3 to 6 feet high and blooms July through September with spiky rose-purple flowers. 2013 Matt Weiser

Another important native plant to look for is Pacific pickleweed (Sarcocornia pacifica), also known as Pacific swampfire. This plant grows in tubular arms up to 2 feet high and flowers in August and September. A salt-tolerant succulent, it is emblematic of a type of high-marsh habitat nearly eliminated in the region by flood control levees, water diversion works, and dikes and ditches built for farming. The plant and its seeds are habitat and food for the harvest mouse. It is hard to imagine anything other than a mouse moving through most of this preserve, where the dense tules, cattails and shrubs seem to make everything but the trails impenetrable. It is a kind of habitat, perhaps, never really meant for man. Fur trapper John Work seemed to realize this reluctantly. He explored this very area with a large party for the Hudson Bay Co. in 1833. Their main prize was beaver, and he went to great lengths to find it. Yet the group was forced to stay inland except for several attempts to cross Suisun Marsh to reach what is now called Grizzly Bay. Some of the people were off examining along the bay, he wrote on April 1 of that year, but could not approach it to set their traps, indeed nothing can be done hunting in it except with canoes. Local highlights: Consider visiting the Suisun Wildlife Center, located at the end of Kellogg Street, next to the trailhead. The nonprofit organization rehabilitates injured wildlife, and provides a permanent home to several indigenous creatures considered unreleasable due to their injuries often the result of collisions with cars. These residents include a coyote, raccoon, owl, eagle, hawk, kestrel and others that can be viewed in their outdoor pens. The center is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily in summer, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in winter. Admission is free and staff is on-hand to answer questions.

2013 Matt Weiser

 2013 Matt Weiser