Whitewater Preserve

Join us January 19th from 9AM-12PM for a guided hike along our 3.5 mile Canyon View Loop Trail! The Canyon View Loop Trail is a moderate trail with a 500 foot incline featuring views of the Whitewater River! Space is limited to allow for proper social distancing. Register using the following link: https://getinvolved.wildlandsconservancy.org//whit/e319855

Are your curious children itching for some outdoor exploration and adventure? Well say no more, and come to Whitewater Preserve where your children can safely explore the wonders of nature in the Whitewater Canyon! Discover this unique landscape, weaving between desert and riverside habitats. Come find us outside the ranger station every weekend from 10am-3pm (weather permitting)! #whitewaterpreserve #wildlandsconservancy #outdooreducation #whitewatercanyon #trailexploration #discover #explore

Ruby-crowned Kinglets ( Regulus calendula) are winter migrants here at Whitewater. They can be seen flitting among the trees in the cooler winter months. Ruby-crowned Kinglets get their name from the bright red crown adorning the males heads. In this picture you are able to see a tiny red dot on this kinglets head. Most often their crowns stay hidden unless they are attracting a mate, threatened by a rival bird or attempting to scare off a predator.

Join us on Tuesday January 12th and Thursday January 28th for the first volunteer days of the new year! Help us with invasive weed removal and post-fire cleanup. Spaces are limited to allow for social distancing. Register now using the following link: https://wildlandsconservancy.org//whitewater/publicprograms

Whitewater Preserve needs your help to recover from the devastation caused by the Water Fire that swept through the Preserve on August 2, leaving $200,000 in damage in its wake. Your donation directly supports the recovery of wetland habitats, critical to endangered species, and park infrastructure necessary for outdoor education and safe public access. For more details, and to donate, please use this link: https://getinvolved.wildlandsconservancy.org//help/c297131.

WHITEWATER PRESERVE CLOSED MONDAY 12/28 DUE TO FLASH FLOOD POTENTIAL Good evening Whitewater Preserve Visitors. At this time the forecast for 12/28 is looking to be our largest post-fire season storm of the year thus far. Large amounts of rain will fall at the preserve, and in the canyons above us. The Apple Fire burn areas in the Whitewater drainage have not yet been tested by this much precipitation and have a high flash flood hazard. Visitor safety is our priority. Updates will be posted as forecast conditions change. For more information, please call (760) 325-7222. **Forecast for tomorrow Tuesday 12/29 is sunny, calm, 55 degrees. Whitewater Preserve will be OPEN!

There are still spots available to join us for our socially distanced volunteer days in January! Volunteer Tuesday January 12th or Thursday January 28th from 9am-12pm and help us restore the burn areas of Whitewater Preserve! Register using the following link: https://wildlandsconservancy.org//whitewater/publicprograms

Take a good look! Can you find all 3 of these camouflaged creatures! . . . .... These resting mountain climbers are Desert Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni). Now, you might be asking yourselves, why doesn’t Santa use bighorn sheep to pull his sleigh? Why do reindeer get all the glory? We can’t answer that question. But we do know that the most recognizable feature of both these animals are their magnificent horns and antlers. Though used for similar purposes, fighting other males for the right to mate, these projections on their head are very different. Horns of bighorn sheep have a bone core that extends from their skull, but are primarily made of keratin, like our fingernails. Antlers of reindeer are made up entirely of bone and grow as an extension of their skull. Horns are never shed and continue to grow throughout an animal’s life, while antlers shed at the end of the breeding season and regrow yearly. For more outdoor fun visit the Whitewater Preserve and download The 12 Days of Whitewater Winter Holiday Hunt or pick up a copy during our weekend Trail Exploration Programs. How many items can you find with your little eye? Use #whitewaterwinter to share how your holiday hunt went! Link to The 12 Days of Whitewater Winter Holiday Hunt download: https://bit.ly/3gH26Sf #bighornsheep #whitewater #whitewaterpreserve #thewildlandsconservancy #happyholidays #whitewaterwinter #ispy

Last week on #GivingTuesday our volunteers gave us their valuable time and energy. We're thankful for their help in our continual efforts to recover from the devastation of the Water Fire. There will be many more volunteer opportunities to come, but if you are unable to give your time, you can still help by making a donation to our ongoing post-fire restoration efforts at: https://getinvolved.wildlandsconservancy.org//help/c297131 #whitewaterpreserve #thewildlandsconservancy #palmsprings #coachellavalley #hiking #nature #restoration

Bobcat kittens first appeared on our remote trail cameras early this summer! After the Water Fire on Aug 2,2020 completely burned through our education area, and the bobcats habitat, staff was unsure what had came of these kittens. Bobcats are sensitive to burn areas and while they were more than capable of outrunning the fire, we were unsure if and when they would return. The second video is our first sighting of mom and her kittens since the fire! Bobcats will stay with the...ir mother until they are 9-12 months old. Judging by the size of these kittens we assume they will be going off on their own very soon. Whitewater Preserve needs your help to recover from the devastation caused by the Water Fire that swept through the Preserve on August 2, leaving $200,000 in damage in its wake. Your donation directly supports the recovery of wetland habitats, critical to endangered species, and park infrastructure necessary for outdoor education and safe public access. For more details, and to donate, please use this link: https://getinvolved.wildlandsconservancy.org//help/c297131 #whitewaterpreserve #TheWildlandsConservancy #bobcats #cats #wildlife #wildfire #fire #wildcats #burn

Common Mergansers (Mergus merganser) It's starting to look a lot like winter! Winters here are not only marked by the changing and falling of the leaves, but also by our winter migrants visiting the preserve! Don’t let its name fool you, these birds are all but common here at Whitewater. Our preserve is an occasional winter migration stopover site for these waterfowl and a rare sight to behold. ... Common Mergansers are fish-eating ducks with streamlined bodies perfect for quickly diving underwater to catch their prey. They forage in clear aquatic habitats such as streams, rivers, lakes, coastal bays, and estuaries. The males (pictured here) are striking with clean white bodies, dark green to black heads, red feet, and a slender, serrated red bills. Females have the same red feet and bill as males, but they have rich, cinnamon brown heads with a larger crest, and the body is a less sharply defined mixture of grey and white, fading to white in the breast. Whitewater Preserve provides a safe, protected habitat for a vast diversity of life, whether they are lifelong inhabitants or occasional migrants, this place provides just what they need. Though a large majority of our landscape changed after the Water Fire, the plants started growing back quickly. This demonstrated a type of resilience only seen in nature. But we are working diligently to help the process of restoration. YOU can also help by supporting our continuous restoration efforts and donating here: https://getinvolved.wildlandsconservancy.org//help/c297131 #whitewaterpreserve #thewildlandsconservancy #commonmergansers #whitewaterwinter #waterfire #donate #restoration

Coyotes are highly social animals, often living in family groups called packs. Coyote packs are led by an alpha female and an alpha male. This pair is the only breeding pair in the pack. Other members of the pack include young from the previous year, coyotes that have been accepted into the pack or the current year's puppies. The pack members help raise young, hunt and defend their territory from transient coyotes. Coyote packs normally consist of 3-7 coyotes. Our remote game... cameras caught this group of 5 walking along our education trail. Whitewater Preserve needs your help to recover from the devastation caused by the Water Fire that swept through the Preserve on August 2, leaving $200,000 in damage in its wake. Your donation directly supports the recovery of wetland habitats, critical to endangered species, and park infrastructure necessary for outdoor education and safe public access. For more details, and to donate, please use this link: https://getinvolved.wildlandsconservancy.org//hel/c297131

These nocturnal little birds are more often heard than seen. Lucky for us this Western Screech Owl (Megascops kennicottii) likes to land and hunt right in front of our remote trail camera! Western Screech Owls prefer a variety of habitat that is wooded or semi open. These areas make it easy for Screech Owls to watch their prey from a perch and then swoop down to capture it. As vegetation in our wildlife refuge and wetlands habitats regrow from the Water Fire on Aug 2, 2020, m...ore and more species, like these little owls, move in to utilize the rich resources our wetlands have to offer. Whitewater Preserve needs your help to recover from the devastation caused by the Water Fire that swept through the Preserve on August 2, leaving $200,000 in damage in its wake. Your donation directly supports the recovery of wetland habitats, critical to endangered species, and park infrastructure necessary for outdoor education and safe public access. For more details, and to donate, please use this link: https://getinvolved.wildlandsconservancy.org//help/c297131

A big thank you to Sunrise Hiking Group for helping us begin the post-fire restoration of our education trails and wetlands. It was a joy for our staff to work with you and include you in our plans for the future! We're also thankful to the many others who have volunteered and donated recently and on #GivingTuesday. More volunteer days are being scheduled so stay tuned! You can help by making a donation to our ongoing post-fire fundraiser here: https://getinvolved.wildlands...conservancy.org//help/c297131 #whitewaterpreserve #thewildlandsconservancy #palmsprings #coachellavalley #hiking #nature #restoration See more

To celebrate #GivingTuesday today we asked visitors what they are thankful for at Whitewater Preserve. Here at Whitewater we're thankful for the opportunity to teach children about biodiversity and the affects of fire on landscapes. We're also thankful to you for supporting our goals of restoring habitats and reopening our repaired park areas. You can help by making a donation to our ongoing post-fire fundraiser here: https://getinvolved.wildlandsconservancy.org/.../c297131 #whitewaterpreserve #thewildlandsconservancy #palmsprings #coachellavalley #hiking #nature #restoration

Happy Giving Tuesday! A global day of generosity and thankfulness. Whitewater Preserve is one of 20 preserves The Wildlands Conservancy protects and stewards as part of the largest nonprofit nature preserve system in California156,000 acres and counting. This #GivingTuesday, stay up-to-date with Wildlands preserves and projects by joining our Behold the Beauty Association, like everything else we do, it’s free. https://wildlandsconservancy.org/beholdthebeauty.html You can also donate to our ongoing fundraiser to restore and rebuild Whitewater Preserve here: https://getinvolved.wildlandsconservancy.org//help/c297131 #whitewaterpreserve #thewildlandsconservancy #nature #preserve #hiking #palmsprings #california #coachellavalley #restoration