JOIN your hiking buddies for a Friday/Saturday night campout in the Wind Wolves Preserve!
IMPORTANT: YOU ARE REQUIRED TO MAKE YOUR OWN CAMP SITE RESERVATION & CHECK IN INDIVIDUALLY WITH THE PRESERVE. We are NOT staying at a GROUP campsite !!
We are going April 19-21, 2024.
If you are not into camping, then all of the hotels at Tejon Outlet mall are available only 20 miles away.
You may make your camp site reservation by calling the Preserve at 661/858-1115 or online.
The camp site reservations are FREE, limited to 2 sites per reservation and limited to 2 tents per site. Parking will be limited to one car per campsite, with overflow parking available in an overflow lot about a 2 minute walk away. But you can freely load and unload your belongings right at the campsites.
The preserve gate closes at 6 PM with keyed ingress/egress through the gate.
There are a TOTAL of 12 individual camp sites at the campground that include picnic tables, restrooms, water, and a fire pit. Propane BBQs and propane fire pits are allowed and recommended for cooking. (Our ability to have a fire will depend on the danger of fire and weather conditions at the time. We will be bringing wood with the expectation of having a fire. Each vehicle should bring at least one bundle of wood per night for the campfire.)
This is a car camping experience with gear coming out of our vehicles. You will need tent, sleeping bag, mattress, flashlight, camp chair, etc., etc. Again, the preserve is extending use of the campground to our group for FREE. However, your event hosts will be collecting a ten dollar cash donation per person/per night for the Preserve.
On Friday/Saturday evenings at 6 PM the fire and potluck picnic dinner will begin. Wind Wolves does not provide trash cans, so we will need to pack out our camping trash and "leave no trace" in the camping area. Quiet time in the campground is between 10 PM and 8 AM. Check out and departure will be between 9-11 AM on Sunday morning.
ABOUT THE CAMPOUT PICNICS: Please bring picnic food to share for the potluck dinner and breakfast at the campout. BYOB (beverage).
ABOUT THE HIKES. This camping experience is intended to be integrated with three unique spring time hiking adventures.
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Friday morning hike at 10 AM in the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve
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Saturday morning hike at 10 AM within Wind Wolves Preserve to the Reflection Pond and Scull ๐ rock
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Sunday morning hike at 10 AM within the Preserve to the Tule Elk Overlook and beyond.
These hikes will provide viewing opportunities for spring wildflower blooms in the lower San Joaquin Valley area. The hikes will not be required for enjoying the camping experience and the camping experience will not be required for doing the hikes. But the campout and hikes are intended to compliment each other. These hikes and this campout are separate meetup events that require separate RSVPs.
ABOUT THE PRESERVE: Part of The Wildlands Conservancy, the 93,000 acre Wind Wolves Preserve is the West Coast's largest nonprofit preserve. Due to elevation ranging from 640 to 6,005 feet, the preserve has an impressive array of landforms and habitats that serve as a critical landscape linkage and wildlife corridor between the Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada. Tule elk were reintroduced to the Wind Wolves Preserve, and the herd has grown to more than 200. On the San Joaquin Valley floor, the preserve is a 30 square mile veritable sea of grassland with remnant stands of saltbush. The grassland rise from the valley floor into classic California oak savanna with extensive wetlands and further rise into juniper and pinyon forests and stands of ponderosa pine and big cone spruce. In addition to the elk, there will be a chance to see bears, mule deer, extraordinary bird life, and unique geological features on our hikes.
DRIVING DIRECTIONS: Take the 5 Freeway north over the Grapevine and Tejon Pass toward Bakersfield.... just past the junction with Highway 99, take Highway 166 west 9.5 miles toward Maricopa.... past Old River Road continue 1.8 miles to the preserve access road.... look for the sign indicating "Wind Wolves Preserves" on your left.... turn left and proceed 4 miles through the main entrance gate. For the San Emigdio Campground, stay to the right at the fork after the main entrance. For the hiking trails, stay to the left at the fork.
DISCLAIMER: Group organizer and assistant organizers assume no liability; hike at your own risk. By being a member of this group you hereby agree to assume all risks and liability related to or resulting from any group functions. You agree that neither you nor any third party will hold any of the group's leaders, officers, or representatives liable for any injury, loss, or damage to your own person or any members of your family, friends, acquaintances, children, pets, or property, arising directly or as a consequence from a group activity. You also agree that your membership of this group is based on an "at will" basis.