Carpinteria Salt Marsh Herb Walk with Lanny Kaufer

On Sunday, October 22, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Ojai naturalist and author Lanny Kaufer will return to the beautiful Carpinteria Salt Marsh Nature Park, also known as El Estero, a rare salt wetland in Southern California. Nearly destroyed by development, the remaining estuary was restored in the late 1990s by a group of concerned citizens along with the City of Carpinteria, UCSB, and the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County. Completed in 1997, the 8-acre portion of the marsh owned by the City of Carpinteria was renamed the Carpinteria Salt Marsh Nature Park.

The park includes walking trails and interpretive signage. It is home to hundreds of migrating birds and other wildlife, including exotic sharks, rays and native fish when conditions are right. Depending on the tide level Kaufer’s group may be able to see marine wildlife like the Guitarnose Shovelfish and Round Stingrays shown in John Brant’s photo from a walk there in 2021. A date with favorable tides was chosen so keep your fingers crossed

Whether or not the walkers see any marine life, there is a great variety of edible and medicinal plants of the Coastal Strand and Coastal Sage Scrub plant communities for them to see and learn from. Interesting and useful native plants there include Blue Elderberry, California Blackberry, Grindelia, Lemonade Berry, Mugwort, Pickleweed, California Statice, Wild Rose, and Coastal Sagebrush.

This walk is presented under a license from the City of Carpinteria. Due to the sensitivity of the habitat, dogs are prohibited here. No smoking, please.

Copies of Kaufer’s book, Medicinal Herbs of California, will be on hand for sale and signing before and after the walk.