- Kathleen Scavone
- Posted On
The Living Landscape: Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest
“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.” – John Muir, “The Mountains of California”
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Southern Lake County's Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest is located seven miles northwest of Middletown, off of Highway 175.
Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest is 3,493 acres of awe-inspiring woods which was acquired by the state of California via a private landowner in 1949.
Just what is a “demonstration state forest”?
Demonstration forests are forests which are representative of the most common type of forests in California.
Our state has eight demonstration state forests, with more than 71,000 combined acres, including Jackson in Mendocino County, Ellen Pickett in Trinity County, Mount Zion in Amador County, Las Posadas in Napa County, Soquel in Santa Cruz County, LaTour in Shasta County and Mountain Home in Tulare County.
Like the rest of Lake County, Boggs Forest is considered to be a Mediterranean climate with hot and dry summers and warm, wet winters.
The temperature ranges from 100 degrees F (summers) down to 13 degrees F (winters) at Boggs, with an average annual rainfall of 71 inches, in typical years.
Due to Boggs' elevation of 3,720 feet, the forest can experience light snowfall several times a year.
When hiking any of Boggs Mountain's trails you will be surrounded by manzanita and chaparral when you start out, then climb into stunning mixed wooded forest of ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir and sugar pine.
Interspersed along the way you'll encounter various oaks, such as canyon live oak, black oak. Be sure to look for dogwood and madrone as well.
The geology of Boggs is considered to be complex in form, as it is assembled on a large lava cap with slopes and rock outcrops.
Evidence of rock which is volcanic in nature can be seen throughout the forest, with igneous rock such as andesite and basalt.
According to details in the report from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the sedimentary rock seen in the soils are sandstones and mudstones.
The forest is a popular spot year-round for not only hiking, but equestrian use as well as designated bicycling use.
For more information see the Friends of Boggs Mountain Web site at http://boggsmountain.net/calendar/hiking-events/ .
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is an educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.