Natural Nipomo: The Nipomo Creek (and Valley)

On a recent summer morning I decided with a couple of friends to visit the Nipomo Creekside Preserve. We rode our bikes down Tefft Street and turned into the Adobe Plaza. We rolled on behind the shopping center and came to a stop at the entrance to a gravelly path.

The Nipomo Creekside Preserve was established a few years back by the Land Conservancy. Its 2.5 acres have been set aside for preservation and planted with native plants. Local volunteers and student organizations at Nipomo High School work in the preserve to remove invasive species and conduct new plantings.

The Nipomo Creek flows through the Nipomo Valley, making up the eastern border of the Nipomo Mesa. The Nipomo Valley is a lush region defined by its hills. Its historical significance is noteworthy: it has been home to Native Americans and Captain Dana's cattle, it has hosted John Fremont's army of conquest and the family of pea picker's immortalized by Dorothea Lange.

To the west of the creek are stabilized sand dunes. To the east the soil consists of largely adobe clay. The Nipomo Creek is fed by numerous smaller creeks that flow down from the foothills of the Temetatte Ridge during the rainy season.

As we explored the park we saw hand-made signs (painted on the backs of old political advertisements) declaring, “Trail, do not litter.” I had been to the preserve many times before, but I had never seen any trail before. We decided to follow the signs.

Adjacent to the Creekside Preserve is the proposed Jim O'Miller Memorial Park. Notable here is the white railroad crossing sign. A plaque at the foot of this sign describes the history of rail in Nipomo. The line once ran from Avila to San Luis Obispo, through the Edna Valley to Arroyo Grande and Nipomo, and on south to Los Olivos. “This railroad served as a major influence in the development agriculture and commerce on California's central coast from 1886 to 1942,” the plaque reads.

The trail wrapped around the edge of the park, along the fence line. When it reached the banks of the creek, there were some cut-out steps. We descended.

No water was flowing through the creek for this summertime visit. I have been to the creek in the winter, though, when water flows plentifully. In big storms the creek swells to depths of ten feet or more. Evidence of this can be seen in the bits of dead organic material left hanging in willow trees, caught up in the branches during the last torrent.

We looked around. A discarded tire lay half-buried in the bank in front of us. There were a few empty food wrappers. The volunteers do a good job of cleaning the creek, especially before the rains, but it is still a shame to see the rocky creek bed littered.

My friends and I followed the signs down the creek bed. The sun poured through gaps in the leaves above. Insects flew around us, birds chirped. We saw a few lizards.

After a while we reached the convergence where the Haystack Creek meets the Nipomo Creek. Around us were willow trees and oaks, licorice plant and other riparian plants. Near here the trail goes up the bank again, where there are elderberry, coyote brush, lilacs, a stand of eucalyptus trees looking quite out of place, and an oak grove which would look inviting but for the poison oak.

“You don't see these plants anywhere around Nipomo anymore,” says Ian Wells, a recent graduate of Nipomo High School and an amateur naturalist, referring to the California lilac.

Closer to the Tefft Street bridge were poison hemlock and soap plant. Poison hemlock is a tall slender plant with clusters of small white flowers. The poison from this plant was used to execute the Greek philosopher Socrates. Soap plant—a member of the lily family—was used by the Native Americans, who consumed parts of the plant and also used its bulb for soap.

There are plenty of other places to see creek. The Dana Adobe's annual heritage day is a great opportunity—my friends and I have personally led creek hikes there the last couple of years. At points south of the Dana Adobe the creek widens into wetlands, which serve as resting places for migratory birds. Some of these sites can be seen from Thompson Road and from the freeway.

Corrine Ardoin's definitive book, A Natural History of the Nipomo Mesa Region, offers a point-by-point tour of Nipomo in addition to its lyrically detailed descriptions of the land and its history. I strongly recommend it. The roadside tour will take you to many sites of interest in the Nipomo Valley, from rock formations off Dana Foothill Road once used by the Chumash to fault lines running at the base of the Temetatte Ridge.

Though sometimes tempestuous, the Nipomo Creek offers a natural getaway in the heart of Old Town Nipomo and a glance into Nipomo's rich past. Go there after a light rain, bring along a book or a friend, and sit and enjoy nature's local fountain for yourself.