McCarthy Blue Oak Ranch Preserve

Located five miles north of Springville, McCarthy Blue Oak Ranch Preserve is a magnificent 908-acre nature preserve nestled among substantial public lands, including Giant Sequoia National Monument, Sequoia National Park, and the Sequoia National Forest.

The preserve includes rolling blue oak woodland, chaparral, and the headwaters of Sycamore Creek. Located within the Tule River area, this magnificent nature preserve protects an important corridor of habitat between the foothills and higher elevation riparian areas for rare mammals like the Pacific fisher and for songbirds like the Swainson’s thrush and black swift as they migrate between their summer and winter ranges.

Sequoia Riverlands Trust purchased the land for the Springville area nature preserve in 2005. It is located just across the road from the venerable Clemmie Gill School of Science and Conservation (SCICON). In 2019, Blue Oak Ranch Preserve was named in honor of former Sequoia Riverlands Trust Executive Director Soapy Mulholland, who retired in December of that year and was instrumental in the establishment of the preserve during her tenure. By working with neighbors and the local community, Sequoia Riverlands Trust has developed a long-term conservation plan whose vision includes sustainable grazing as a land management tool.