Spring 2026 Events at HCCP ***CELEBRATING 35 YEARS***
Meet at the Preserve parking area on Clear Creek Road unless noted.
All events are free and child friendly
horsetownclearcreekpreserve.org
MARCH 14 (SAT) 10-12PRACTICING CURIOSITY THROUGH NATURE JOURNALING
Join Heather Bortolussi, a GrizzlyCorps fellow with the Western Shasta RCD, for a nature journaling outing at Horsetown Clear Creek Preserve! No prior nature journaling or art experience is necessary— just an open mind and a willingness to be curious in the outdoors. We’ll learn how to nature journal while exploring the preserve and using this tool to deepen our understanding and connection with the world around us. Please bring something to write or draw with.
MARCH 21(SAT)9-12 ADOPT A HIGHWAY CLEAN UP
Meet at the HCCP Parking area. Volunteers will clean up a stretch of Clear Creek Road around the Preserve for 2-3 hours. We provide vests for visibility, tools for pick up and garbage bags. Please bring gloves and sturdy shoes. Lunch/snacks on us afterwards at Carl’s Jr in Westwood village. Heavy rain cancels.
MARCH 28 (SAT) FAMILIES IN THE FOREST—Shasta Environmental Alliance event for families with young children.
registration required. Use link WWW.ecoshasta.org, other details and register
APRIL 4 (SAT) 10-12CLEAR CREEK WILDFLOWERS AND WILD PLANTS
Walk with David Ledger from the Native Plant Society and Sierra Club. Enjoy the beauty of blooming wildflowers. David will explain the various botanical features of flowers using roadside flowering weeds and teach participants about the features of 2 or 3 plant families with handouts describing them. Then we will go on a short walk in the Horsetown Preserve and identify a few members of the plant families we learned as well as other wildflowers, shrubs and trees.
APRIL 11 (SAT) GEOLOGY WALK 10-12
Kody Shellhouse, a geologist with the Bureau of Land Management, will take us on an easy two-mile stroll along old roads and trails near Horsetown-Clear Creek Preserve. That will give us the opportunity to discuss Cretaceous geology and the mining history of the area.* * * This hike meets at the yellow steel gate, on the south side of Clear Creek Road, about 6 miles west of highway 273. (1 mile east of HCCP parking area.)
April 12 (SUN) GOLD RUSH HISTORY WALK 10-12
The community of Horsetown was established near the second major gold discovery in California at Reading’s Bar on Clear Creek during the gold rush of 1849. Enjoy a pleasant spring walk with a view of that site with Preserve Board Member Cathy Scott. Learn about our local gold rush history and Horsetown. Bring some friends and walking shoes.
April 18 (SAT) EARTH DAY CELEBRATION 11-4
Horsetown-Clear Creek Preserve will have a booth for Earth Day celebrations at Caldwell Park. Please join us and other groups at this event which features music, booths, kid’s activities and more. Shasta Environmental Alliance is hosting this event – for more information go to www.seashasta.org
April 19 (SUN) 10-12 WILD TROUT AND FLY FISHING IN CLEAR CREEK
Join local angler Mark Clausen as he discusses fly fishing and watch from the beach as he demonstrates the technique of casting a fly on beautiful Clear Creek. He will share facts about wild trout on Clear Creek and some of the equipment used on the sport. Mark has been tying his own flies and fishing this stretch of creek for many years. NOT limited to fisherman.
APRIL 26 Salmon Monitoring on Clear Creek 9 to 11
Join Horsetown–Clear Creek Preserve alongside Fish Biologists from the US. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to learn more about their juvenile salmon conservation and monitoring projects in our area. You can view USFWS rotary screw trap operations on Clear Creek, a project that helps track and monitor populations of our local Chinook Salmon. We’ll start at the China Garden Trailhead. USFWS Biologists will then lead us down to Clear Creek where we will be able to learn about and observe USFWS rotary screw trap and juvenile fish handling operations, conservation and monitoring of Chinook Salmon and steelhead trout, as well as restoration and management efforts happening within the watershed. This hike meets at the China Garden Trailhead, (the first BLM trailhead on Clear Creek Road from highway 273).
May 3 (Sun) 1-3 pm NATIVE PLANT IDENTIFICATION AND USES
Join native Wintu Ted Dawson on a spring walk while he locates, identifies, and explains medicinal and general uses of native plants. Ted consulted and provided technical support at Turtle Bay for Native American exhibits. Today’s presentation will include making a natural poison oak remedy. Bring a jar to take some home.
MAY 16 (SAT) 10-12 BUTTERFLY WALK
Hobbyist lepidopterist Jasmine has an affinity for all things butterflies. She will guide us on a walk to discover species of butterflies at the Preserve. She worked within Turtle Bay’s seasonal butterfly exhibit for two summers, where her knowledge of butterflies grew.
She will be Graduating this May with an associates in Natural Sciences then going to Humboldt to get a bachelors in Forest Restoration. We have Close focusing binoculars for sharing the experience.
MAY 30 (SAT) 10-12
WADING INTO THE WATER: THE HIDDEN WORLD OF AQUATIC INSECTS
Discover the big role tiny insects play in our aquatic ecosystems and how they survive in a bug-eat-bug world. Join AmeriCorps member Kristina Krajcik from the Western Shasta RCD for a family-friendly day of turning over rocks, wading in the stream, or simply watching from the shore. We’ll spend the day sampling for aquatic invertebrates and explore the mysteries of the underwater world. We will bring extra nets and tools to allow guests, big and small, the opportunity to gather insects.