Celebrate California Biodiversity Week at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve

California is considered a global “biodiversity hotspot” — thousands of plants and animals rely on the habitat created by California’s diverse landscapes, seascapes, and the freshwater systems that connect them. More plants and animals find California home than any other state, and many are found nowhere else on the planet. At the same time, this biodiversity is severely threatened with extinction. Celebrating California biodiversity for California Biodiversity Day brings awareness to the incredible nature of California while encouraging actions to protect and steward it. Learn more here!

Things to do:

Take the Find 30 Species Challenge on iNaturalist! Visit the BioBlitz booth in the Visitor Center and we'll teach you what you need to know to participate.

Explore the Reserve Visitor Center and trails, open 9am-5pm. Check in at the Visitor Center for information, then head out to see what you can find!

Help us collect seeds in our native plant garden that will be used in our restoration projects to help create beatiful, diverse native habitats throughout our watershed!

Go on a guided hike! See our schedule above.

This is a free event, and attending activities does NOT require a reservation.

Info: Join a Reserve Volunteer on a guided hike highlighting the biodiversity of the Elkhorn Slough Reserve! No registration is required, meet at the Reserve Visitor Center.

Info: Curious about what a BioBlitz is and how you could contribute to community science? Join us on a guided hike to learn how to use iNaturalist and help record the biodiversity of the Elkhorn Slough Reserve! No registration is required, meet at the Reserve Visitor Center.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, 1700 Elkhorn Road, Watsonville, United States