The Cold Creek Docents of the
Mountains Restoration Trust

Since 1977, the Cold Creek Docents have been leading nature walks in the Cold Creek area of the Santa Monica Mountains near Calabasas, California. Regularly scheduled public nature walks are conducted at Cold Creek Valley Preserve, Cold Creek Canyon Preserve, and along various trails in the Cold Creek Basin. The walks are publicized in the Santa Monica Mountains National Park Service's Outdoors quarterly calendar and in the Cold Creek Docent newsletter. Weekdays, docent-naturalists lead chaparral ecology and archaeology field study programs for schools in the greater Los Angeles area.

The Cold Creek Docents are the environmental education affiliate of the Mountains Restoration Trust, a non-profit public-benefit land trust based in Malibu. The Trust owns the Cold Creek Canyon and the Cold Creek Valley Preserve, both of which are adjacent to the historic Stunt Ranch homestead.

MISSION

• to educating the public, particulary school children, about the natural and cultural history of the Cold Creek watershed and its relationship to the Santa Monica Mountains and to worldwide ecological principles;
• to conducting hands-on programs that include archaeology, Chumash studies, ethnobotany, and chaparral ecology on Cold Creek area trails and at the Katherine Spensley Nature Education Center at Stunt Ranch;
• to promoting appreciation, conservation, and stewardship of the Cold Creek watershed.

DOCENT TRAINING

• Santa Monica Mountains Docent Training
  
  This six-session class is conducted every other Saturday, 9:30-3:00 p.m., from the last Saturday in September to the first Saturday in December. Sponsored by the Topanga Canyon Docents, this class is open to other docent organizations as a basic Santa Monica Mountains natural history training course. The classes are taught by resource professionals and topics cover plants, wildlife, geology, interpretation, cultural history, and much more.
  
  
• Archaeology Docent Training
  
  Sponsored by the Cold Creek Docents, this five-session class on cultural and natural resources is taught by professionals. Docents learn of the Native American world of the Chumash and how they thrived in a natural environment. Other topics include ethnobotany, material culture, tool-making, archaeological methods, and interpretive skills. A supervising archaeologist works with the Docents in program evaluation and artifact analysis. Prospective Cold Creek Docents can register for either class by calling the Docent phone number: (818) 346-9620
  

  PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS

  • Kidsort Archaeology
    
    At the century-old Stunt Ranch, students, grades three and up, will walk through chaparral, oak woodland, grassland and streamside habitats where they will learn how the early Native Americans who once inhabited the Cold Creek area used the environment for all their basic needs. At the Katherine Spensley Nature Education Center, they will participate in an hands-on archaeological orientation program where they will screen-wash soils to retrieve, sort, and categorize artifacts. Their work will be recorded as a part of the official archaeological record for the site. Length: 2.5 hours
    
    
  • Chaparral & Early Chumash Culture
    
    Basic ecological concepts such as diversity, adaptation, competition, and fire ecology are demonstrated during a one-hour walk which includes grassland, chaparral, oak woodlands, and streamside habitats. Students will see a bedrock mortar and taste sage seed as they relate to how early Native Americans thrived in this environment long ago. At the Katherine Spensley Nature Education Center, students will learn about indigenous animals, take part in simulated Chumash cave wall-painting, grind acorns and play Chumash games. Suitable for all ages and grade levels. Length: 2.5 hours.
    

  AWARD WINNING PROGRAMS

  • Governor's Historic Preservation Award, 1993 (Archeological Conservancy, State of California)
  • Take Pride in California Award, 1994 (California Dept. of Parks and Recreation)

  NATURE WALKS FOR COMMUNITY GROUPS

  The Cold Creek area contains one of the most diverse plant regions in the Santa Monica Mountains. In pristine Cold Creek Canyon Preserve, ancient sandstone plates arise from aromatic chaparral scrub, lush oak woodlands and streamside habitats. There are rocky grottoes, waterfalls, unexpected canyon vistas, and a boulder home once occupied by a german gold miner.

  Cold Creek Valley Preserve offers an easy walk along the perennial Cold Creek and across a gently rolling chaparral scrub basin surrounded by up-turned sedimentary sandstones and intrusive basalt (igneous-volcanic) dikes. A wide variety of bird life and micro-climates are encountered along the trail. Both Preserves contain specimens of the prehistoric red shank shrub.

  The Stunt-High Trail has two segments leading to the Backbone Trail at the top of Saddle Peak. (The Backbone Trail extends 55 miles along the crest of the Santa Monica Mountains.) The lower segment offers streamside, grassland, oak woodland and chaparral habitats while the upper trail segment offers a miniature forest of manzanita and California lilac, with outcroppings of eroded sandstone boulders.

  The Stunt-High, Calabasas Peak, Topanga Skyline, Cold Creek, Yucca and Backbone Trails are public trails; no permit or reservations are required. However, the Cold Creek Canyon Preserve Trail requires a permit if you wish to enter without a docent. Call for a permit from the Mountains Restoration Trust: 818-346-9675

  To make arrangements for a docent-led walk for groups of 6 or more to tour Cold Creek area trails, call the Mountains Restoration Trust at (818) 346-9620.

  There are no drinking, picnicking or toilet facilities along any of the trails. Wear shoes with good tread, and carry drinking water. Please demonstrate your care for our precious resources by not picking flowers, staying on the trail and out of the creek, and carrying out your trash.

  PROGRAM SUPPORT

  Cold Creek Docent programs and the Katherine Spensley Nature Education Center are supported by memberships, donations, and grants. As a member of the Docents support team, you will receive a discount on lectures, workshops and special events. You will receive a membership card and a periodic newsletter listing upcoming events. In addition, you will receive priority access to the pristine 750-acre Cold Creek Canyon Preserve.

  Your tax-deductible contribution will provide funding for educational supplies, scientific equipment, display and teaching materials, nature center maintenance, printing, and postage.

  The Cold Creek Docents operate under the guidance of by-laws which are available upon request. A monthly business meeting is open to anyone interested in supporting Docent goals. Meetings are generally held in the offices of the MRT, and the date is published in the Docent newsletter, or call the Docent message service at 818-346-9620.

  
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