COMMISSION

Mountain Biking: On Wednesday evenings, during the spring
and fall, mountain bike enthusiasts can enjoy the park as they
practice and test their skills.
Outreach and Education
Through portable staffed exhibits, programs, and special
events, Prairie City SVRA provides an important opportunity
to teach kids about responsible OHV use, safety, rider ethics,
and awareness and protection of the park’s natural and
cultural resources. The park also hosts the Off-Highway PALs
program.
Vernal Pool Interpretive Program: While
Prairie City SVRA offers a variety of recreational
opportunities for motorcycles, 4-wheel drive
vehicles, and bicycles on unique terrain, there are
also hiking trails and wildlife viewing areas. One
activity that hundreds of people flock to see every
spring is a tour of the vernal pools. Prairie City
SVRA’s vernal pools are home to the federally
endangered vernal pool tadpole shrimp, as well as
the federally threatened vernal pool fairy shrimp.
The vernal pools are also home to a variety of beautiful flora such as spokepod, valley
tassels, royal larkspur, Fremont’s tidy tips, white meadowfoam, miniature lupine, vernal pool
goldfields, and many others. Every April Prairie City SVRA hosts an annual Vernal Pool
tour. The free tour is open to the public and shows visitors the splendor of this complex
micro-ecosystem.
Park History
The parklands were originally home to the Valley Nisenan Maidu Native Americans. The
Maidu people occupied the eastern portions of the middle and lower Sacramento Valley and
Sierra Nevada foothills until the discovery of gold and the ensuing Gold Rush. Prairie City
SVRA takes its name from the gold rush mining community that was located just northeast
of the present-day park. Today, reminders of that 1850s community can be seen in the
acres of cobbled mine tailings left after dredges combed the ancient river beds in search of
gold in the late 1800s. After the gold mining days, the area became home to a number of
cattle ranches.
226
California State Parks, Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission