Sacramento

National Wildlife 

Refuge

Wetlands Walk Trail 

Guide

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Come explore the wonders of 

our wetlands along the trail that 

meanders through shallow marshes, 

along a creek, and past deep ponds!

During the fall and winter, the 

Refuge wetlands are flooded. 

Thousands of ducks and geese are 

on the Refuge at this time. In the 

spring, waterfowl migrate north as 

the water recedes, while shorebirds 

and songbirds are more common. 

During the summer, most wetlands 

are dry, therefore, resident animals 

are often found near permanent 

ponds.

The best times to see wildlife are 

in the early morning and late 

afternoon from November through 

February. To increase your chances 

of seeing animals, take binoculars, 

walk slowly, talk softly, and stay on 

the marked trail.

It takes at least an hour to leisurely 

walk this two-mile trail. However, a 

shortcut allows you to return to the 

trailhead from the halfway point. 

Numbered posts correspond to the 

stops in this guide.

Pictures of the plants and animals 

are numbered. See how many you can 

identify correctly! Their names are 

listed on the last page of this 

brochure.

Seasonal Cycle

Viewing Tips

Trail Tidbits

Quiz Yourself!

Entrance Road

Shortcut

Start

Here

Logan Creek

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To begin the walk, 

follow the trail across 

the entrance road.

Welcome to Wetlands Walk

Visitor Center

Benches

Parking

Auto Tour

Wetlands Walk

Trailhead *

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Logan Creek provides water for 

some of the Refuge’s marshes, 

through a system of canals and pipes. 

Along the creek grows a special forest 

of cottonwoods and willows — trees 

that like to keep their roots wet. 

This riparian woodland provides food 

and shelter for a variety of animals. 

Raccoons, egrets, and herons hunt 

for fish and crayfish at the edge of the 

creek. Deer, rabbits, and owls seek 

relief from both the hot summer sun 

and cold winter rains under the trees. 

Nesting songbirds find insects here to 

feed their young.

3. How Important 

Is This Creek?

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1. What Are 

Wetlands?

Historically, the Sacramento River 

flooded in the winter and spring. The 

floods created vast seasonal marshes. 

Beginning in the late 1800s, most of 

2. A Seasonal 

Marsh 

There are many different kinds of 

wetlands. Wetlands may be as small 

as puddles or as big as lakes, and 

they may contain fresh or salty water. 

Some wetlands contain water all year 

long, while others dry out in summer. 

The wetland you see here is a freshwater marsh. On the Wetlands 

Walk, you will be exploring wetlands 

that include seasonal marshes, 

permanent ponds, vernal pools, and 

riparian (waterside) woodlands. 

Each one supports unique plants and 

animals that have adapted to this 

soggy environment.

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Follow the trail across the auto 

tour and to the right to explore the 

secluded riparian (rye-pair-ee-an) 

woodlands . . .

Look in the willow trees for nests, 

and along the creek banks for 

beaver-chewed trees.

Notice the variety of plants in the 

seasonal marsh along the creek...

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the Sacramento Valley was 

converted to farmland. 

Marshes like these have 

been created to provide 

homes for animals that 

need wetlands.

Water is drained from 

the marsh in late spring

so a new generation of 

marsh plants can sprout 

in the warm, moist 

pond bottoms. In the fall, when the 

seed heads ripen, the marshes are 

reflooded to bring an abundance of 

food within easy reach of many birds.
Unlike most other ducks, wood ducks, 

or “woodies,” nest in holes in trees. 

Because so many riparian woodlands 

have been cut down throughout the 

United States, nest boxes like this one 

have been placed to make up for lost 

nesting trees.

Notice the entrance of the nest box 

is small enough to let adult wood 

ducks in but keep raccoons and other 

predators out. However, many other 

animals will use the boxes, including 

owls, honey bees, and woodpeckers.

4. The Duck 

That Nests In 

Trees

Wetlands act as a living filter. 

Agricultural and urban runoff may 

enter these wetlands via Logan 

Creek. Marshes can absorb excess 

chemicals thereby helping to purify 

the water before it returns to the 

Sacramento River.

5. Wetlands 

Are Working 

For You 

Look for tracks of wildlife along 

the creek and trail.

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Listen for lizards, pheasants, and 

rabbits as they scurry away to hide 

from you — a possible predator!
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8. Permanent 

Or Year-Round 

Ponds

Many plants and animals depend on 

permanent ponds. Dense cattails and 

bulrush in and around the edges of 

the pond offer nesting places for 

yellow-headed blackbirds and snowy 

egrets. The open water, with floating 

plants, provides a place for animals 

to feed on aquatic life year-round. 

Given time, the cattails and bulrush 

will replace the floating plants, until 

very little open water is left. This 

cycle of plants replacing each other 

is called succession.

Every so often, permanent ponds 

are drained to recycle nutrients, and 

cattails and bulrush may be burned 

to set succession back so that floating 

plants may grow once again.

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During the walk, you may have 

noticed a faint rotten egg odor. In 

wetlands that are flooded for a long 

time, dead plants and animals collect 

on the bottom and rot slowly, creating 

a thick black muck. Special bacteria

that live naturally in this waterlogged 

muck release a sulfur-containing gas

as they break down dead plants and 

animals. This gas gives the marsh its 

characteristic, rotten egg odor.

6. Smell The 

Marsh!

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Look for floating cut cattails which 

are evidence of muskrats digging for 

roots to eat.

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As you walk between the 

permanent ponds, notice how 

the tall, dense bulrush and 

cattails provide excellent 

hiding places for wildlife 

and you!

Look and listen for marsh wrens 

calling within the bulrush.

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7. You’re Halfway! While you take a break near the 

eucalyptus trees, listen and look 

for songbirds and turkey vultures. 

You may hear the deep bellowing of 

bullfrogs or witness the heron’s slow 

stalk and quick spearing of a crayfish.

At this point the trail splits. 

Continue straight ahead to go 

back to the visitor center.

Follow the trail crossing to 

the entrance road to continue 

on the Wetlands Walk.
Wetland plants have evolved unique 

ways of coping with oxygen-poor soils. 

Air-filled tubes run from their leaves 

to their roots, forming a snorkel 

through which the plant can breathe; 

they also help the plant float. Cattails 

and bulrush have additional air-filled 

cells around these breathing tubes, 

which provide extra support for their 

tall stems.

Bulrush have no leaves! 

Gently feel their spongy stems.

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At first glance this flat, treeless 

expanse looks dry and deserted, 

particularly during the summer 

and fall. But jackrabbits, ground 

squirrels, pheasants, red-tailed 

hawks, and coyotes feed in these 

grasslands year-round. In the fall, 

some grasslands and alkali meadows 

are burned to control invasive weeds, 

return nutrients to the soil, and 

stimulate the growth of rare, native 

plants. Winter rains cause grasses 

and wildflowers to sprout. Wigeon

and geese join the resident wildlife 

to graze on the tender young grasses 

and wildflowers.

The grasslands are part of the original Colusa Plains. 

Much of the Refuge looked like this prior to the early 

1900’s.

9. Survival 

In The Marsh 

Muck!

10. Grasslands 

And Alkali 

Meadows: 

Who Needs 

Them?

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11. Wetland 

Nursery

Wetlands are “nurseries” for many 

animals. Dense plants protect young 

animals from predators, and there’s 

plenty of good things to eat. 

The western pond turtle, bluegill, 

common garter snake, green darner 

Vernal pools host a unique community 

of plants and animals adapted to the 

dry-and-wet cycle. In the summer, the 

pool appears lifeless, but seeds of 

plants and eggs of shrimp lie in the 

cracked soil.

In late fall, rain stimulates growth. 

Soon after, thousands of shrimp, 

insects, and microscopic animals 

hatch, providing a protein-rich “soup” 

for ducks and shorebirds. Drying 

springtime pools display vivid rings 

of goldfields, white meadowfoams, 

and purple downingias. North winds 

trigger summertime plant growth, 

and the cycle continues.

12. Vernal 

(Springtime) 

Pools

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dragonfly, cinnamon teal, 

black-tailed deer, and 

muskrat are just a few of 

the animals that raise their 

young in the wetlands.

Notice how the high 

concentration of calcium and 

salts have lightened the soil color. 

It’s not surprising that early attempts 

at farming these poor soils failed.

Smartweed, also 

called knotweed, is 

characterized by its slender 

leaves, knobby stem joints, 

and nodding, pale-pink 

white flower spikes.
 1 Mallard Pair

 2 American Coot

 3 Seasonal Marsh

 4 Raccoon

 5 Northern Flicker

 6 Black Willow

 7 Cattail

 8 Cottonwoods

 9 Wood Duck Pair

10 Turkey Vulture

11 American Bittern

12 Yellow-headed 

Blackbird

13 Marsh Wren

14 Pacific Tree frogs

15 Muskrat

16 Bulrush

17 Redhead Pair

18 Ring-necked Pheasant

This is a great opportunity to see 

many different habitats at a glance. 

The Coast Range Mountains, in front 

of you, silhouette the cattails of the 

seasonal marsh. Turning to your 

right, the tall trees of the riparian

woodlands are a dramatic contrast 

to the vast grasslands which give way 

to the jagged Sutter Buttes in the 

distance.

Today, in California, over 90% of the 

original habitats like these have been 

lost to urban development and 

agriculture. But the picture is not 

entirely bleak. Thousands of acres of 

special habitats like these are being 

restored and created throughout 

the State. Although much has been 

achieved, there is much more to be 

accomplished.

13. What Is 

The Future Of 

These Special 

Lands?

Listen for the sounds of nature . . . 

leaves rustling in the wind, wren’s 

musical rattle and buzz, crickets 

chirping, creek bubbling . . .

If you’ve enjoyed the beauty and 

wonder of these wetlands today, 

you can help preserve them for 

tomorrow’s generation. 

By conserving water, volunteering, 

joining a wetland conservation 

group, or buying a Migratory Bird 

Hunting and Conservation Stamp

(Duck Stamp), you will be doing your 

part to protect our valuable wetlands.

14. How Can 

You Help?

If you are finished using this brochure, 

please return it to the rack for others to use.

Photo Credits:

Cover, Great Blue Heron and Page 5, Northern Flicker ©Vaughn Ruppert

Pages 9-10, 11-12 and photos 1, 2, 4, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 21, 

22, 23, 25, 31 ©Steven R. Emmons.

Photo 9, Wood duck ©Mike Peters

Photo 14, Tree frog ©1996 Glenn McCrea.

Photo 32, Fairy shrimp ©George Turner.

Photos 26, 28, 33 Joe Silveira, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

All other photos U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

We hope you enjoyed the Wetlands 

Walk. Visit again, during a 

different time of year to explore 

the dramatic seasonal changes 

that occur here!

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19 Western Meadowlark

20 Coyote 

21 Immature Red-tailed 

Hawk

22 Black-tailed Jack Rabbit

23 California Ground 

Squirrel

24 Smartweed

25 Killdeer with Young

26 Grindelia and Blister 

Beetle

27 Black-tailed deer

28 Common Garter Snake

29 Western Pond Turtle

30 Damselfly on Pickleweed

31 Western Sandpiper

32 Fairy Shrimp

33 Goldfields and 

Downingia
Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge 

752 County Road 99 W

Willows, California 95988

530/934 2801

http://www.fws.gov/refuge/sacramento

TTY 530/934 7135

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

1 800/344 WILD

Pacific Southwest Region Information

http://www.fws.gov/cno

This brochure will be made

available in other formats

upon request.

May 2013

Printed on 100% recycled paper with a minimum 

50% post-consumer fiber content.