Whitewater Preserve

December 26, 2009

My last adventure of the year was a little trip to meet some friends from back east out at the Whitewater Preserve. We didn't do much hiking and I really consider this more of a park than anything else, especially if you stay in the immediate area of the visitor center like we did. Still, I think it's a very cool place, especially if you are going on a picnic or have people along that don't hike much. The preserve belongs to The Wildlands Conservancy and they have done a very nice job of making this something for everyone. By the way, this will be a short blog.

Our friends were coming out from Orange County, so we waited near the mouth of the canyon, so we would have cell service. The cell service was needed to coordinate our meeting when they arrived. Traffic was very heavy, actually stop and go near the outlet stores in Cabazon, so the phones were indispensable.

View in the canyon while waiting

Since it was the day after Christmas, it was certainly winter and we had our winter conditions. It was somewhat overcast and chilly, by our standards anyway. We did a little exploring while waiting and I saw this sign.

Wilderness marker

While I like to think that I appreciate the wilderness as much as anyone, I was surprised to see this sign next to a gate. I walked over to take a closer look, thinking that there must be something I'm missing and sure enough, I found a bench mark.

Bench mark

Soon our friends arrived and we went to the park area. It's completed with a visitor center, lots of parking, rest rooms and picnic tables. The kind of park my family enjoyed when I was a kid. But this is different, this area was once a trout farm and the conservancy saved some of the ponds and of course, some of the fish.

Trout, some of the biggest you'll ever see

The landscaping is nice and the overall setting is beautiful

A very cool diving duck

Picnic and grass area

The hills near the visitor center

I'm not going to write much more, other than to say that you really should check this place out, if you haven't already. Click on the links above for directions