August 14, 2024. This time I wanted to go somewhere that felt far away without being toooo far away and Grizzly island fit the bill. It’s not a park, it’s part of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. There is no visitor center nor benches or bathrooms. And it was closed. Darn.
I had found contradictory info about it online and they didn’t answer the phone but I decided, in the spirit of the expedition, to go anyway. I figured I’d find something interesting somewhere. Leaving the road from Suisun City it’s another half hour drive to the service office. I met an employee in the parking lot who asked if I needed help. The area is currently open for tule elk hunting and fishing only and I was clearly just roaming around.
But he was friendly and said I could certainly visit the office, which was filled with marsh animal specimens. The staff member inside told me I could come back when fishing season was over for hiking. He suggested visiting Hill Slough and Rush Ranch just a few miles down the road.
By now I was a bit frustrated at not really seeing the marsh. There are only a few places to park near the water and they are for fishing right next to your car. All other roads were closed. The Hill Slough is supposed to have a trail but the only one I found dead ended after about 500 feet. So I went to the ranch.
Starting in the 1850’s the Rush family ranched the land and for some reason didn’t fill in the marsh as their neighbors did. Still, Suisun Marsh is the largest single estuarine marsh in the US and the largest brackish water marsh on the west coast. Scientists study it as a template to restore other marshes.
At over 100,000 acres, it feels huge. There are many places where there’s grass and hills as far as the eye can see, despite its proximity to civilization. That was pretty thrilling.
The ranch has a visitor center, picnic tables, a bathroom and horses. The unstaffed center is in a kit house from Sears Roebuck assembled in the 1930’s. It had more animal specimens plus poop samples. I saw just one other visitor. The Marsh Trail that goes along the marsh was closed for renovation and the others don’t go near the marsh. Grr. I ended up backtracking to a fishing area to get a photo of it.
I will definitely come back here during hiking season. February is the peak of the Pacific Flyway in the Bay Area so there should be birds galore!