Skip to content

"In order to create a society that truly reveres the natural world, we must offer its citizens life-changing experiences in nature"

NatureTrack’s 2021/2022 field trips open for registration September 1st.

All participants must have a signed waiver.

Offering students access to NATURE during the traditional school day!

NatureTrack provides K-12 students in Santa Barbara County with outdoor field trips where teachers specify what they would like NatureTrack volunteer docents to emphasize based on what students are currently studying in class.

Direct communication with teachers ensures that each field trip supplements in-classroom units of study and is in alignment with state-mandated standards.

Dedicated volunteer docents who enjoy sharing their knowledge and love of the outdoors with students lead NatureTrack adventures. Students learn the wonder of what is in their own “backyard” by hiking on local trails, spending time in oak woodlands, chaparral, grasslands, coastal sage scrub, and other regional ecosystems.

There is never a cost to schools, students, teachers, or parents for a NatureTrack field trip.  NatureTrack even covers bus transportation expenses to get students and teachers from their schools to field trip locations.

PLEASE NOTE: If you do not hear from NatureTrack within 48-hours of your reservation,
email: abby@naturetrack.org or call 805-886-2047.

There is never a cost to schools, students, teachers, or parents for a NatureTrack field trip. We even cover bus transportation expenses to get students and teachers from their schools to field trip locations.

Field Trip Locations

Curriculum Standards
Combined Photo Release and Waiver

Often used together, these two parklands in Santa Barbara allow exploration of highly varied eco – zones in a short time period. Restoration on the Douglas Family Reserve provides the opportunity to introduce the concept of re – wilding of land previously used for agriculture and residences. Native plantings in the riparian area are widely varied including many water loving plants including mulefat, juncus, arroyo willow and sycamore. On the mesa of the park are stands of imported palms, eucalypts and exotic we eds along with more recently restored native plants where contrast among plants and habitats are explored.

Views out over the Pacific and the Arroyo Burro beach with shore birds and sea life are often in view. On the Arroyo Burro beach, the geology of the coastline is readily in view all the way to the to p of the Santa Ynez Ridge. This allows for interpretation regarding erosion, sand movement, and sedimentation and the entire rock cycle. Weather patterns and the effects on the local habitat provide the possibility for discussions that focus on the interface between ocean and beach with the estuary at the edge. Plant and animal life from the ocean and the land are compared for their adaptation to their habitat.

Coming Soon…

Curriculum Standards

COAL OIL POINT RESERVE, UCSB
As guests of the UCSB reserve, we are invited to travel the trails and visit the beach area where the snowy plover nests forages on the beach. Since this is a “species of special concern,” students can observe but not enter the primary nesting area that is strictly protected. The plover conservation success story is an important point at this site. Snowy plovers are so well camouflaged you can be nearly on top of them before seeing them!

The reserve consists of the main estuary and a pond where migratory birds come and go throughout the year. Habitats vary from the unique flora of the coastal strip to the estuaries and dunes. Further inland, the habitat changes rapidly with coastal adapted trees and shrubs and the animals and birds that frequent them.

The reserve is connected along the inland border with the new North Campus Open Space rewilding project that extends the main estuary further inland and provides a planned buffer for sea-level rise and storm surge while increasing the habitat for traditional wetlands and vernal pools. From the reserve, we will see the Santa Ynez Range of east-west coursing mountains just a few miles away that are the northern boundary of the catchment for the watershed that feeds into this reserve.

While the reserve is close to densely human-populated areas, it represents an important wildlife resource. We will see shorebirds, waterfowl, and evidence of mammals thriving among the native plants. This site is an actively managed research reserve where students will see the efforts to maintain ecological diversity and provide protection to this important area. An opportunity to consider the role of ecological research at the nature reserve opens new insights into understanding nature. (If the nature center there is open to us: The interpretive displays and artifacts at the Nature Center are a unique opportunity for students to relate focused educational material to the natural setting they are visiting on site.)

Coal Oil is the name for this reserve, and the rich history of the geological reason can be explored with the frequent deposits on the beach. The people along this coastline have used this petroleum resource for thousands of years for things from boat building to asphalt for early roads in Goleta.

Coming Soon…

Curriculum Standards
Combined Photo Release and Waiver

Easily accessible to Goleta and Santa Barbara schools, Goleta Butterfly Grove is a delicate resource available for educational presentation of the Monarch butterfly migration and how it culminates with over-winter gathering in preparation for the spring breeding. Butterflies coursing hundreds of miles north for the warm months begin the inter-generational story that brings their third generation off-spring back each winter here at Elwood. While the larger mid-west to Mexico corridor of Monarchs is ever more threatened by pesticides and de-forestation, this western group provides comparisons in geographic forces bearing on one of the last great migrations on the planet.

Historical eucalyptus, local native plants and invasive plants provide lessons in habitat and preservation on land that overlays an important geological fault and a base for exploring the broad geological features of Santa Barbara County from the Channel Islands to the Santa Ynez Range. On the beach we are able to study tides, the coastal zone habitat and the geology of the Monterey formation in the cliffs as it relates to local oil industry and the basin and range visibly evident in this location.

Curriculum Standards
Combined Photo Release and Waiver

This site in western Goleta provides easy access to geological formations, beach activities, marine life, and marine fossils. Here the Monterey geological formation is clearly evident and provides opportunities to discuss oil production while viewing the offshore oil platform Holly. Foraminifera, microscopic animals, were abundant in the Monterey shales creating the fossil fuels we use today. Fault lines, beautiful bedrock along with sea cut mesas are among the geological features readily available here. Migratory birds make an appearance along the shore and in the offshore kelp forest, which also affords material for art projects and learning about marine life. The watershed that ends at this beach demonstrates erosion process and sedimentation along with the cliffs and the cut banks as examples of the entire rock cycle. The limited catchment above the beach is interesting to contrast with the lengthier Santa Ynez Valley. Our field trips to Haskell’s Beach are often coupled with time at Ellwood Butterfly Reserve, where we study the migratory patterns of the monarch butterfly. Also available at these sites are the contrasting exotic plants and native plants including eucalyptus, coyote bush, willow, mule fat and annual forbes.

Curriculum Standards

Gaviota State Park Beach offers excellent examples of the central coast’s geologic landscape. The east-west trend of these features — Santa Barbara Channel, sea cliffs, coastal mesas, and mountain ridges – records millions of years of tectonic compression that has lifted the Earth’s crust up, out of the water, and tilted its rock units south. The geology of Gaviota’s sea cliffs displays this tilted folding with fine exposures of the Monterey Formation, an organic marine mudstone called shale.

Beach walking up the coast to the west requires careful attention to the tides. If teachers wish to make the most of Gaviota State Park Beach, be sure to select a date and time with the lowest tide. During a zero or minus tide, the sea cliffs offer a fascinating variety of rock layers, including hard tan porcelanite, shale, and a tar-saturated black conglomerate with pieces of these rocks. The action of the surf has eroded shallow caves in the sea cliff, and wave-cut rocks allow tide-pooling at the lowest tides. Beautiful arch-shaped recesses in the cliff are fine examples of weathering of weaker rock layers that subsequently erode away.
Down the coast, to the east, the beach is broader and usually accessible to the east. The Monterey rocks of the sea cliffs show fine layers tilted south with many varieties of color, texture, and chemistry alterations. Careful exploration may also reveal fossilized ripple marks in the shale, sand injectites pushing up through the rock layers, and the fossil bones of a marine mammal encased in a rocky outcrop in the sand.
Several offshore oil rigs are visible from the beach, built in 1976-1989 to pump oil from its source in the organic shales of the Monterey Formation. These structures form a point of discussion about fossil fuels in our changing world and the importance of the Santa Barbara Channel, which provides a rich habitat for many marine species.

Curriculum Standards
Combined Photo Release and Waiver

Where the river flows through Solvang, long-standing pools are formed and riparian habitat supports unique flora and fauna in the system strikingly different from the surrounding valley and hills. Here we look at the geology of the watershed that extends 90 miles through the full catchment. The geology of erosion including material dispersion and local rock formation can be studied here. The steelhead restoration project is a part of the history of this river system that includes the story of the migratory oceangoing fish and the conservation efforts to maintain their habitat. We usually see migratory and residential birds. Short trails provide opportunities for discovering local plants including mule fat, Willow, coyote bush, and Cottonwood.

Coming Soon…

Curriculum Standards
Combined Photo Release and Waiver

Located west of Santa Barbara between Refugio and Gaviota State Beaches, the steep canyon affords students the opportunity to see native trees and plants in an undisturbed community of sycamores, ancient oak trees, bay Laurel and sages. Included in this habitat are many species that are considered threatened or endangered. This narrow canyon provides an interesting geology with ocean views visible from the trails among the unique landforms. The history here includes a Chumash village as well as a stagecoach stop. The Arroyo Hondo story of selection by the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County provides lessons on conservation of local natural habitats set aside for learning opportunities and research.

Curriculum Standards
Combined Photo Release and Waiver

 

Trails at Gaviota State Park parallel the historical crossroads of Santa Barbara County where native-Americans traveled from the islands, the ocean and foothills to the interior as far as the Sierra and back to trade diverse resources and goods from across these geographic areas. Unique geology created the Gaviota Canyon that has been used for eons as a corridor for human travel from footpaths to state highway and railroad. The same corridor is the pathway for an exchange of wildlife and plants represented in multiple habitats including coastal strand, chaparral, coastal sage, oak woodland, grassland, as well as riparian/marsh areas. The rich diversity of plants and animals affords opportunity to explore their relationship with this unique geographic area.

We take lessons here from the geology and weather, especially influenced by the geographic configuration of nearby Point Conception and the influence of the Channel Islands with ocean currents and landmass air movement. Because elevation changes and the varied coastal influence, there is an enormous variety of plants closely arrayed by habitat allowing comparisons between habitats and seasonal changes. Short walking distances yield huge variety in observations about the natural history in this locale and how it compares to the wider county.

Curriculum Standards
Combined Photo Release and Waiver

Located in Santa Barbara County, Midland School Trails is one of the best locations for NatureTrack  “adventures.” With over 35 trails and dirt roads on  2,860 acres, NatureTrack  can offer a variety of  “adventures” for students from exceptional geology  lessons crossing a 100 – million year old fault, seeing  examples of plate tectonics, to exploring multiple  habitats, and more, including studying the Native  Indians on the site Soxtono kmu, which was the  largest Chumash Village in the Santa Ynez Valley.  Learning comes alive on the Midland School Trails!

Midland School Trails are nestled between the Los Padres National Forest, the largest national forest in the state, and adjacent to the San Rafael Wilderness Area, home of the Manzana River and its tributaries. Meadows, creeks, cliffs, canyons, and ridgelines; yucca, sycamores, oaks, sage, and poppies; coyotes, wild pigs, wild turkeys, owls, hawks, and eagles; a perfect location to connect with the natural world on one of many NatureTrack “adventures.”  The sense of place a student develops at Midland is invaluable and enduring.

Curriculum Standards
Combined Photo Release and Waiver

Nojoqui Falls lies on the edge between wild lands and agricultural lands, allowing students to see the effects of natural settings and those maintained for harvest and recreation at the lower park. The rolling green of lower fields allows for games introducing concepts from nature in an open setting and the trail to the falls for interpretation of the natural ecology of the area. A very slow moving landslide, shale and a fault at the falls provide geological perspective relative to the Santa Ynez Valley beginning at the lower park. Seasonal waterfalls and riparian habitat with sycamore, bay laurel and the ever – present poison oak contrast with planted areas be low and outside the park boundaries.
Agriculture is nature harnessed for food production and here we are able to point out how the wild native plants live in contrast with those domesticated as crops in a ruderal setting. Often students visit the near by farms in conjunction with our partners, SY Veggie Rescue, which we then label as FarmTrack Adventures. Students learn about organic farming and what makes it different from non-organic farming. Students learn about gleaning, then actual glean produce to be donated to a local non-profit.

Curriculum Standards
Combined Photo Release and Waiver

Edging down from Figueroa Mountain, the reserve has 6000 acres of re – wilding ranch land suitable for research and outdoor education. Over 40 miles of trails bid the nature explorer to learn about California habitats ranging from chaparral to grasslands. Blue oak woodlands and savanna populated by great valley oaks make up classroom space unequaled between walls. Seasonal changes bring wildflowers in the late winter and spring, with ripening fruits and acorns from late spring through the summer. Early fall or winter rains bring “spring” greenery to the hills. Faults create dual boundaries to the subduction zone with unique geologic and botanic features that provide eyewitness opportunities to experience the effects of ancient seabed geology on the living landscape above the Camuesa Fault zone that can be compared with the lower, younger soils. Pillow lava, blue schist, chert and serpentinite provide readily identifiable geo – markers of the unique mid – ocean strip of land thrust up to the surface. Gray pine, buckwheat and yucca thrive there while in the riparian zone there are mulefat, willow, common monkey flower and juncus. Wildlife is abundant with deer, coyote, squirrels usually seen and more shy animals often present and unseen include bobcat, skunk, rattlesnake and weasel. Most birds seen in Santa Barbara County inland from the shore are present or seen seasonally at the pond and meadows or woodlands at Sedgwick.

Curriculum Standards
Combined Photo Release and Waiver

In Goleta, this often-overlooked parkland is rich in biodiversity with migratory as well as resident birds present year around. Waterfowl as well as a large variety of songbirds gather for the water and surrounding habitat. Plants vary from exotic palms to native cattails and rushes and attract wild mammals from coyote and fox to gophers, frogs and turtles.

The site of an historical ranch house, the once sizable Goleta bay reached nearly to the present-day small lake. Erosion has filled the bay and created much of the land for present-day residences. A network of trails offers many encounters with the birds and a surprisingly wide variety of plants within short walks. Contrast between the imported plants and the native plants along with the yards of nearby residences are instructive in what is wild and native and what in nature is cultivated.

Curriculum Standards
Combined Photo Release and Waiver

Santa Ynez Valley Botanic Garden provides a close-by opportunity for Valley students to experience nature with the contrast of urban interface and the beginning of wild lands. The site affords opportunities for birding, with the well-cared for collection of native plants. Discussion of preserving natural habitats near local population centers can be coupled with the need for wildfire protection to extend this legacy into the future.

Nature art is often a focal part of our program at the site where we take advantage of picnic tables to focus small groups on learning about nature from hands-on contact and expression of appreciation for nature. Learning proper use of binoculars before an in-field birding experience enhances the success of being able to find and focus on the range of birds.

Check back soon…

Virtual Trips

In spring 2020, when the coronavirus hit the United States, the world as we know it changed, but the mission of NatureTrack has not. We pivoted operations from field to film and continued to foster a lifelong fascination with nature through the use of virtual trips and activities that motivate kids to get outside, when and where it’s safe, to explore nature in their own “backyard”.

Each packet highlights one of NatureTrack’s 14 field trip adventures and may include:

  • Virtual hikes, led by NatureTrack docents

  • Guided activities

  • Worksheets

  • Games

  • Partner sites/videos

  • Coloring pages

Botanic Garden

NatureTrack Vimeo Showcase Videos

Santa Ynez Valley Botanic Garden Activities:

Create your own crossword puzzle instructions:

COVID-19  |  COVID-19 Protocol  |  COVID-19 Waiver

Combating COVID-19 with nature! The Mayo Clinic has been ranked one of the top hospitals in the nation for more than 27 years and their recommendation?

“The COVID-19 virus is primarily spread from person to person through respiratory droplets released into the air when talking, coughing, or sneezing. When you’re indoors, you’re more likely to inhale these droplets from an infected person, especially if you’re in close contact, because you’re sharing more air than you do outdoors. Poor building ventilation can cause droplets to hang in the air for a longer period of time, adding to the potential for infection.

When you’re outside, fresh air is constantly moving, dispersing these droplets. So, you’re less likely to breathe in enough of the respiratory droplets containing the virus that causes COVID-19 to become infected.

Being outside offers other benefits, too. It offers an emotional boost and can help you feel less tense, stressed, angry or depressed.”

In light of long-term distance learning, teachers, parents, and students are calling for time away from the “screen”, social interaction, and outside activity. Educators, health professionals, and laymen alike agree that these factors are more crucial than ever to the mental and physical health of this generation.

NatureTrack is committed to meeting that need by tailoring traditional outdoor field trips [link to field trip page] to meet COVID health and safety guidelines, so kids can continue to be kids – to get outside, to run, to explore, to share their enthusiasm and excitement with others.

“I hope that all of the teachers at my school will get their kids out into the woods with this program, as I am confident that it is precisely this type of experience that helps kids get excited about science and to cultivate a real respect and reverence for the natural world.”

Specially trained naturalists, who enjoy sharing their knowledge and love of the outdoors with students, lead NatureTrack adventures. Santa Barbara County is one of 35 global biodiversity hotspots giving students the opportunity to explore habitat types ranging from lush coastal wetlands/beaches and dry interior grasslands, to foothill oak woodlands and savannas, to hill slopes covered by coastal scrub and chaparral, to mountain tops of mixed oak and pine forests.

Teachers can specify which topics, NGSS core ideas, or crosscutting concepts they would like to see emphasized to facilitate student’s connection and continuity with in-classroom units of study.