Mission Peak - Environment

Environment

Mission Peak is home to California oak woodland and chaparral. Typical of the interior Coast Ranges, the woodland is mixed, made of Coast Live Oak, California Bay, California Buckeye, Blue Oak, and Western Sycamores. Black Oak is rare and scattered around the peak. Most stands have been logged. There are also some Bigleaf Maples. Gray Pines exist in mixed stands of oaks and isolated lone stands on the high slopes. The best example is the old-growth oak forest in the Hidden Valley (see Hiking) known as A.A. Moore Memorial Grove, which contains all the tree species. Many of the oaks are three hundred to six hundred years old. Sadly, many oaks are over a hundred years old, while almost none are younger than fifty. The saplings have been shorn by cattle and choked by invasives since 1797. The steepest slopes are home to hard, evergreen chaparral. This also has a confusing mixture, primarily California Sagebrush, Chamise, and Scrub Oak but many others. Blue oak often grows among the chaparral. The grasslands are a mix of native and nonnative grasses brought along by cows, though many native wildflowers grow in the spring. Mission Peak's cattle have a reputation to be feisty. There are many black-tailed deer. Pronghorn were extirpated in the late 19th century and so were Tule Elk. Tule Elk were reintroduced to Alameda County and are occasional visitors. Predators include bobcats, coyotes, gray foxes, and mountain lions which are very rarely seen. Small mammals include the Black-tailed Jackrabbit, the Western Gray Squirrel, and California Ground Squirrels. Visitors should be advised that Northern Pacific rattlesnakes are very common. Southern Alameda county has the high density of nesting Golden Eagles, thus, they can be seen often, along with Turkey Vultures, Red-tailed Hawks, Red-shouldered Hawks, Prairie Falcons, and Sharp-shinned Hawks. They also nest here, usually in steep valleys on the slopes, where no trails enter. There is a herd of feral goats on the peak.