WOODS VALLEY RANCH

The Woods Valley Ranch open space preserve is located approximately 6.5 miles north of the City of Escondido and about 6.0 miles east of Interstate 15. The preserve is bordered to the west and south by Valley Center Road and Woods Valley Road, respectively. The preserve also borders the Woods Valley Golf Club, with natural buffer areas designed between the active play areas and the preserve. The Woods Valley Ranch property is within the Draft North County Multiple Species Conservation Program (MSCP) Subarea Plan. There are two different categories of natural open space lands related to biology designated on the property. The Moosa Creek Open Space (MCOS), identified as riparian/wetland habitat, consists of preserved and revegetated southern coast live oak riparian forest, southern coast live oak forest, coast live oak woodland, mule fat scrub, and freshwater marsh/open water. This corridor provides a linkage between areas of very high value to the east of the property to areas of moderate to high value north and west of the property. The Hillside Open Space (HOS), identified as natural upland habitats, is dominated by Diegan coastal sage scrub, southern mixed chaparral, coast live oak woodland and non-native grassland. The managed open space preserve consists of a contiguous area of 115.87 acres of native vegetation. Stewardship of The Woods Valley Ranch preserve commenced In November 2008, following a five-year revegetation program for the riparian/wetland areas. Long-term biological management includes such tasks as quarterly patrols to remove trash and check fences and signs, removal of invasive plant species, periodic biological surveys documenting the status of existing sensitive species and identifying new plant and animal species, and assessing the site for potential human encroachment impacts.

Species of Interest: Engelmann Oak, San Diego Sedge, Orange-throated whiptail, San Diego horned lizard, and Least Bell’s Vireo.

Place your cursor over a marked area for a brief description of the habitat. Click the map for more information.