BY VIC BEDOIAN
Dos Rios State Park is truly unique in its conception, location and purpose. It has evolved through vision and hard work in the private and public sectors. It is very much the people’s park. California’s newest state park recently celebrated its first anniversary.
According to Armando Quintero, director of the California Department of Parks and Recreation, the state was looking to create a park in the Central Valley that was on a river and close to communities in need of public access to nearby natural areas for recreation.
Dos Rios ranch was the perfect fit as it sprawled over the land around the confluence of the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers. Both are majestic and hard-working waterways. The San Joaquin provides the lifeblood of Valley farms and towns, whereas the Tuolumne carries Yosemite snowmelt to sustain San Francisco.
Meanwhile, the conservation group River Partners had spent more than a decade turning a farming operation at Dos Rios ranch into the largest private-public floodplain restoration project in the state.
The vision for returning the land to nature came from Bill Lyons of the historic Mapes Farm. His family had been raising cattle and tending orchards near Modesto for generations. Lyons headed the California Department of Food and Agriculture from 1999 to 2004.
Tuolumne River Trust and River Partners made the deal happen and went to work. Over the years, River Partners has planted more than 350,000 native trees and shrubs in their effort to establish the natural ecosystem that now spreads over a large portion of the riparian landscape.
Park Manager Paige Haller highlights their distinctive location and terrain. “We have opened a state park differently than has ever been done before. The property is currently owned by River Partners and State Parks leases it, and we are in the process of transitioning that property over to the state for ultimate conservation.
“Dos Rios as a property has been in the works for decades. There was a vision of the landowner who had some farming activities here but really thought that this place was so special that it should be preserved.”
Right now, people are working on specific landscape design and uses. Haller indicated that “the property that will eventually become California State Park is about 1,600 acres. And there is a southern portion of the property which is slated to go to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the San Joaquin National Wildlife Refuge.”
Driving into the park off Shiloh Road hints at its uniqueness. Passing by a corn field, a cherry orchard and almond groves, it looks the same as the vast and varied agricultural landscape all around.
Entering the visitor center compound, there are rows of small, bushy plants glowing green in the 90-degree sun. State Park Interpreter Julian Morin explains it is a demonstration garden so people can experience the natural habitat of Dos Rios when it was a floodplain.
“That was a very barren area that had just been used for truck transportation over years. We wanted to have an opportunity to show the restoration effort to folks who might not be able to travel into the backcountry, to see it live.
“So those are little seedlings, and eventually those will grow up into some of the big oak trees and cottonwood trees. And then we have some willows, box elders and some smaller stuff like California, blackberry, wild roses, golden currant.”
Restoring the floodplain is also bringing back animals and birds. Morin points out that “North American beavers, river otters [and] black-tailed deer have made a move back into the area.
“You might expect to see raccoons, coyotes, foxes, all sorts of different animals. One of them being an endangered species called the riparian brush rabbit. The rabbit made it here naturally on its own. It traveled from the refuge across the river.”
Numerous bird species also reside there, he says, along with the seasonal ebb and flow of migratory birds.
Besides enhancing biological diversity, floodplain restoration at Dos Rios offers other important benefits acting like a buffer to absorb and mitigate extreme flooding events and protecting human infrastructure.
Flood water that percolates into the surrounding terrain replenishes the local aquifer, as it banks water for the future. Haller estimates that 80% of the park’s 1,606 acres are flood prone.
Morin describes a diverse set of recreation opportunities including a variety of trails going to different areas of the property. “You can see some of the more recent areas of restoration and some of the oldest.” Visitors can also take guided trips with Morin or other staff who can take them out on a tour and talk to them about the resources.
There are designated areas all along the rivers where people can swim and fish. Dos Rios also is a place to go for relaxation. “There are picnic tables and barbecue pits and shaded structures. We have all sorts of programs that go on throughout every month,” says Morin.
Oxbow Lake is a long, lush pond surrounded with emerald-green riparian trees and shrubs, and it is a hub of outdoor play. More recreation facilities are being planned, Haller notes. “We’re going to create a non-motorized boat dock so folks can come and use the pond for kayaking, standup paddle boarding, canoeing, those types of activities. And then further up the pond we will be installing a pier where folks can use it for fishing.”
Venturing further afield, we head out to the confluence of the two mighty rivers. Cruising along the backroad on the spine of a levee, we pass a 45-acre almond orchard still in production. Eventually, it will be cleared and repurposed.
Everywhere in our viewshed is restored habitat. Morin describes the scene where the land gradually slopes toward the Tuolumne about a mile distant.
“That’s all susceptible to flooding, but also all restored. So, you can imagine prior to the restoration it was almonds, alfalfa, corn, whatever row crop was growing there.
“But, fast forward the restoration and now it’s a very healthy, dense, thriving habitat that supports an abundance of different wildlife and species and biodiversity.”
Scanning the thick riparian forest, Morin describes the plant-scape. “There are about three different kinds of willows, and then of course, all the valley oak and cottonwood. I believe there are about 16 different native plant species that River Partners planted that they used as their like native plant palette and that they planted throughout the whole park.”
We come to the end of the road on an escarpment above the confluence to regard the stunning panorama of the Tuolumne as it flows into the San Joaquin River; beyond is the San Joaquin National Wildlife Refuge fading off into the distance, and beyond that the hills of the Coast Range. The silence is broken only by the gentle sounds of the current and the wind.
Although Morin savors the rare contemplative moments he has alone here in Dos Rios, he adds that “what I really appreciate about this job is just helping people connect to the park because sometimes people don’t get out to the parks as often, or maybe they’re not aware of them. So, whenever I can get an opportunity to have somebody here and maybe see an impact on them, it’s definitely a great experience.”
Julie Rentner, president of River Partners, underscores on their website the ecological power of nature that is unleashed through floodplain restoration. “River Partners looks at places that have been degraded ecologically as places where we can make the most impact—like at the confluence of the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers.
“These places in the Central Valley, where we’re rejuvenating the river and its floodplains and bringing wildlife back, once hosted such an incredible biodiversity of species.
“Dos Rios is part of the giant Pacific Flyway—hosting arctic birds that fly to the Central Valley in the winter, and a whole host of songbirds that come from Central and South America to nest in the summertime. And most of those species are nearly extinct, but we see them come back to Dos Rios year after year.”
Indigenous culture is also part of the park’s mission. Austin Stevenot is a Northern Sierra Mewuk and a River Partners specialist working with the park. He expresses why it is important to have Indigenous values and material culture established as part of the landscape.
“For so long, it was illegal for us to practice our culture. But we’re still here, we’re still practicing.
“With River Partners, we’ve created a Native Use Garden at Dos Rios, a three-acre space with plants used for Indigenous basketry and other cultural uses. It started small but has come to represent so much more. It’s changing the way people see these landscapes.
“Restoration isn’t just ecological—it rejuvenates Indigenous culture, and they go hand in hand.”
It took a cohort of federal and state agencies working with civic groups in the making of Dos Rios. Now the park is in the process of shaping its own future and designing the landscape to accommodate diverse recreational and conservation uses.
You can help design this distinctive landscape that is dedicated to conserving natural resources and improving recreation opportunities in the Valley region. A General Plan and Environmental Impact Report will be created to guide that process.
Dos Rios manager Haller affirms that the park will be a people’s creation. “Where can people drive or where could people camp if camping is going to be allowed here? We’re going to try to figure out what makes sense. Are we going to allow equestrian use or swimming? What is it all going to look like? So those are questions that aren’t up to one person.
“This is a park that is to be built by the people. So, we’re really wanting people to inform us what that plan is going to be, so that we can build accordingly.”
Tribal partners, stakeholders and the public have the opportunity to provide feedback on the property’s future. It is currently referred to as Dos Rios. The public’s input will also play a role in the choice of the park’s permanent name. For additional information on the planning process, background and scheduling for the Dos Rios Classification and General Plan, visit plandosrios.org.
