Rush Ranch

Rush Ranch is another excellent Solano County adventure in an area where there seems to be plenty of wonderful hikes to choose from.

Rush Ranch is a 2,070-acre open space area bordered on one side by the Suisun Marsh and has superb bird watching and nature opportunities. It’s easy to get to and open year round, and the walk is easy but has a satisfying 2.2 mile length. It’s an operating cattle ranch that is owned and managed by the Solano Land Trust. The visitor’s center is housed in a Sears Roebuck & Co. kit house that was ordered from the Sears catalog by the Rush family in 1932.

Even more amazing, the land was used as hunting grounds for grizzly bears by the Suisunes, part of the Patwin Native American tribe, who summered on the property for thousands of years. According to the Solano Land Trust website, by 1823, there were no observed Native Americans left in the area, only abandoned and destroyed village sites.

The Trail

There are three loop trails at Rush Ranch: South Pasture and Marsh Trail, both of which begin by the visitor’s center. The third trail, Suisun Hill Trail, starts across the street from the ranch entrance on Grizzly Island Road, and climbs up into the Potrero Hills.

South Pasture Trail offers a decent, 2.1 mile length (although it is very hard to find), but we opted for the Marsh Trail loop, which was shorter. As it turned out with the mosquitoes, tis was the right choice. Read on:

Mosquito Warning

Rush Ranch is a mosquito haven because of its proximity to the marsh. I can only assume the drought makes the mosquitoes even worse, but I have to say we have seldom seen a problem as bad as this. Within minutes on the trail, we were attacked repeatedly; the mosquitoes were so heavy that all we had to do was smack. My husband smacked away several, leaving blood; they had eaten elsewhere.

In speaking to some of the horse ranch hands at Rush Ranch, it seems this is always a problem, and they spray themselves and the horses liberally with DEET. I recommend that you:

a) Bring mosquito and tick spray and spray yours arms and clothing ahead of time. Perform a careful tick check after the walk –I found a tick on my son’s sock. Wear long socks and long pants.

b) Visit Rush Ranch in the winter or early spring.

Rush Ranch has a small visitor’s center, and a beautiful walk around the marsh in the open grass land, really giving you a sense of space. It’s a simply lovely space away from the bustle of urban living. It wasn’t too hot, either. Butterflies and birds were plentiful. There are plenty of horses at the ranch to enjoy, too. We saw a colt nursing his mama, and that as nice.

There are lovely views of Mt. Diablo in the distance. Above you can see the dark green of the marsh.

A better look at the marsh, above.

But the best part…

is, hands down, the barn owls in the huge old white barn by the parking area. They come and go, but usually one or two can be seen up in the rafters having a snooze. We saw two on our day, and I was just thrilled. Look at how beautiful this magnificent bird is:

The blue sky paired with the golden grasslands made for a stunning day, and apart from the horrible mosquito problem, Rush Ranch is really quite a wonderful place to hike. I hear that winter is very muddy, but a spectacular time for birdwatching, and the early spring offers lush, green grass with a plethora of wildflowers. We will return early next year; I’ll do a follow-up post then.

Animals

The sky’s the limit on what you can see at Rush Ranch. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the Sacramento Valley Fox, but I’m lucky I saw anything at all what with smacking away the mosquitoes. Here’s what we did see: