Scenes from the Santa Rosa Plateau...

This special Reserve consists of 9,000 acres of land that has been set aside to protect unique ecosystems like Engelmann oak woodlands, riparian wetlands, coastal sage scrub, chaparral, bunchgrass prairie, vernal pools and more than 200 species of native birds and 49 endangered, threatened or rare animal and plant species, including mule deer, mountain lions, badgers, bobcats, western pond turtles, and white-tailed kites.

There are 40 miles of trails here. Due to poor orienteering, we ended up traversing 7 miles which wasn't our original plan but it gave us wonderful, needed time in nature.

Our destination for a picnic was here at Landmark NO. 1005 which reads, "SANTA ROSA RANCHO - Located on the Santa Rosa Plateau Preserve, the historical site of the Santa Rosa Rancho is a prime example of various historical phases of cattle ranching in Southern California. Archeological evidence gathered from the site indicates that various bands of Luiseño Indians established village and religious sites on the land. No other historic rancho site in Southern California retains so much of its original setting undisturbed."

Home to Native Americans for thousands of years, their way of life came to an end in the 1820s with the secularization of mission lands. The Santa Rosa Plateau became Rancho Santa Rosa in 1846, under a 47,000-acre Mexican land grant given to a rancher named Juan Moreno, who raised cattle and sheep. In 1855, Señor Moreno sold his ranch to his neighbor, Augustin Machado (owner of the Rancho La Laguna, today the Lake Elsinore area). The adobes that Moreno and Machado owned still stand as the oldest structures in Riverside County.