On October 25th (Saturday), the city of Irvine hosted the Bommer Canyon Fall Festival, featuring live music, snacks and treats, mini pumpkin decorating, scavenger hunts and games, trail walks, a meet and greet with Irvine police and firefighters, as well as a raffle drawing. The event was well received by residents.
Bommer Canyon is located near the University of California, Irvine, where native plants thrive. Upon entering the conservation area, visitors immediately feel at ease. Some residents walk, run, or bike along the rolling pathways, while many others came to join the fall festivities. In the cool shade of the forest camp area, people gathered around wooden tables sitting on benches, swaying to the country music played by the Bluegrass band. Children enjoyed decorating mini pumpkins.
Organizers were dressed in corduroy pants, cowboy boots, and fringe-style clothing to showcase a rural fashion sense, and they gifted residents with red bandanas, which many people wore around their necks. Next to the campsite, there was a small botanical garden to explore. Visitors could also take a guided half-hour walk with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy interpreters, learning about the plants along the way, including wild mini pumpkins.
The scavenger hunt at the campsite included finding the Bommer Canyon sign, Chuckwagon Kitchen, water tower, sycamore tree, oak tree nuts, nature reserve booths, Bluegrass band, and Irvine police, among other landmarks. Some items like the water tower and band were easily visible, while others required some effort to locate. Participants who completed the hunt had the chance to enter a raffle and win a large pumpkin prize.
Bommer Canyon is one of Irvine’s open space preserves, once the operational center of Irvine Ranch where they grazed around 3,500 head of cattle. In 2002, the land was dedicated to the city by the Irvine Company for public enjoyment. Steven Greyshock, Vice President of Public Affairs at the Irvine Company, stated, “This is what we are passing down, to protect this land and allow the community and residents to enjoy it.”
In June 1988, Irvine voters overwhelmingly passed Resolution 88-1, amending the city’s general plan to advocate for the preservation and open space of land use. The Irvine Company has transferred approximately 5,200 acres of land to the city, including Bommer Canyon, Quail Hill, Shady Canyon, and Orchard Hills preserves.
This area is a mosaic of rare, rich, and diverse flora and fauna, comprising wetlands, oak woodlands, grasslands, and coastal scrublands. The preserve has been designated a Natural Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the state of California.
Under the agreement, these lands cannot be sold, leased, or used for any commercial, office, industrial, or residential purposes, only for infrastructure development, resource conservation, habitat improvement, and activities such as hiking. Visitors are required to stay on trails and are prohibited from bringing pets into the preserve (more details can be found on the letsgooutside.org website).
Some activities require advance registration and are led by professionals. Within the preserve, there are living in coyotes, rattlesnakes, and wild bee colonies, so safety precautions must be observed. Visitors should also avoid toxic plants like Poison Oak, as the leaves contain urushiol oil, which can cause itching or rashes.
In Southern California’s autumn, the mountains are still lush with greenery and wildflowers. In the lower parts of Bommer Canyon, some plants are blooming tiny flowers while the fruits of cacti are ripe and edible. Interpreters mentioned that they spent several months earlier this year planting 8,000 plants, which have now grown significantly.
Along the pathways, one can often see vines spreading across the ground, and there are patches with many yellow (not orange) mini pumpkins. The interpreters explained that these are local varieties, possibly planted by people, or brought over by animals or birds to grow.
Another plant of interest is California Sagebrush, also known as cowboy cologne. Rubbing its leaves with your hands releases a fragrant aroma. Indigenous people and cowboys often used these to mask hunting or ranch smells.
Many plants in the preserve are not artificially planted, such as the coast live oak or Quercus Agrifolia. A small oak tree was pointed out by the interpreters, mentioning that it takes several decades for it to mature into a large tree.
From the canyon, one can see the surrounding residential houses. Some residents asked about using goats to eat wild grasses and shrubs for fire prevention. The interpreters explained that while goats had been here before, they were not suitable as they would consume protected native plants; cows, on the other hand, are more selective and only like to eat grass.