Treasure Tales A-D

Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park’s beautifully restored buildings, helpful visitor center, walking tours, and annual celebrations bring to life the story of the only town in California founded, financed, built, populated, and governed by African Americans; there’s a campground and train-watching, too.

Sequoia National Park’s iconic Ash Mountain Entrance Sign embodies intriguing threads of Native American, Civilian Conservation Corps, scientific naming, American art, National Park landscape architecture, and Sequoia National Park history — and a mystery.

Hear in the Backcountry Wilderness Rangers’ own voices why their job is “a very coveted park position and the one in Sequoia [and Kings Canyon national parks] has got to be one of the best in the nation”; the job is strenuous, challenging, sometimes dangerous, and endlessly rewarding (they get paid in sunsets).

Tulare County’s Balch Park, surrounded by Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest and Giant Sequoia National Monument, offers family-friendly camping, hiking, fishing ponds, birdwatching, historic sites, rock climbing, wildflower and wildlife viewing, magnificent Big Trees, wonderful night sky watching, and an interesting small museum.

In 1923, the new Classic Revival Style Bank of Italy building (now Bank of the Sierra) became Visalia’s largest and tallest building. Its elegant design, timeless architecture, and classic artisanal interior and exterior features impress and please us still after its first 100 years as a community landmark.

Scenic Bartlett Park, near Porterville, is Tulare County’s third-largest. Its 110 acres include a shady stretch of the Tule River, ponds, picnic arbors and tables, play structures, playing fields, restrooms, a fishing pier, trails, horseshoe pits, a disc golf course, and lots of birds, providing a great day out year-round for people of all ages and abilities.

Newspaperman, businessman, traveler, author, botanist, nurseryman, gardener and planner extraordinaire, William Pitt Bartlett, civic activist and leader, devoted years to designing, developing, and maintaining Tulare County parks and roadside plantings; his estate still funds scholarships for local students. Bartlett Park and Bartlett Middle School in Porterville honor his name and work.

If you would like to see one of the most interesting and seldom-visited mountain cabins in Tulare County, take a long day’s hike or horseback ride on a scenic trail to the Barton-Lackey cabin. Built as headquarters for a long-term summer cattle range, it preserves the history of both an important mountain industry and a prominent early Tulare County family.

Sequoia Riverlands Trust’s McCarthy Blue Oak Ranch Preserve, still a working cattle ranch in the foothills above Springville, protects over 900 acres of blue oak woodland. Its pond, streams, trails, historical and archaeological sites, educational events and activities, wildlife, and wildflowers attract students and visitors of all ages.

Visitors from all over the world come to the amazing 13-acre Woodlake Botanical Garden, an oasis of beauty, education, and conservation in Tulare County. The paved 1.2 mile trail leads through thousands of plantings of fruit trees, vegetables, flowers, cacti, row crops, and ornamental trees and shrubs — a feast for all the senses, maintained by dedicated volunteers promoting pride in their community. Includes video.

Climb the 172 steps to the historic Buck Rock Fire Lookout (at 8,502 feet) to get a breathtaking 360 degree view of spectacular Giant Sequoia National Monument, magnificent mountains, Big Trees, daring rock climbers, the lookout’s intriguing residential office cab, and maybe even a rare California condor. Includes video.

Circle J-Norris Ranch covers 620 beautiful foothill acres above Springville, its oak woodland, pond, stream, hiking trails, abundant wildlife, working cattle ranch, and historical, geological, and archaeological sites providing endless resources for SCICON field trips for students at all levels, and for the public during special events and by appointment. Includes video.

Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park’s beautifully restored buildings, helpful visitor center, walking tours, and annual celebrations bring to life the story of the only town in California founded, financed, built, populated, and governed by African Americans; there’s a campground and train-watching, too.

Cutler Park, near Visalia, featuring a remnant Valley oak grove; a lovely stretch of the St. John’s River (with beach access); a mile-long loop road perfect for strolling, jogging, bicycling, dog walking, or very slow driving; modern play structures; many picnic tables and shady picnic arbors; a disc golf course; and periodic special events, provides a great day out for families and friends of all ages and abilities.

The Dinuba Southern Pacific Depot Museum, housed in the actual 1911 depot, stands beside the 1912 architecturally significant “White House,” which hosts a history library, local art, and community events. Museum exhibits span the Alta District’s pre-railroad days through the world-famous Rutan brothers’ groundbreaking aviation firsts, and include California’s first woman Senator — from Dinuba.

Sequoia Riverlands Trust’s remarkable 152-acre Dry Creek Preserve, near Woodlake, turned a barren old gravel mining operation into a reclaimed and thriving foothill landscape, with hiking trails, picnic tables, a native plant nursery, a pond and seasonal stream, big oaks and sycamores, a disc golf course, a restroom, wonderful wildflowers, and fine habitat for birding, wildlife viewing, and citizen science. Includes video.