SAGEHEN CREEK to Stampede Reservoir

Sagehen Creek trail

TRAIL DESCRIPTION:

The trail heads downstream through the lush riparian habitat of Sagehen Creek and then follows through mixed forests of Lodgepole, Jeffery Pines and White fires to beautiful meadowlands before it reaches the eastern arm of Stampede Reservoir. The trail is an easy 5 mile roundtrip. Early summer provides a dramatic wildflower scene.

Sagehen Creek Trail Head

DIRECTIONS:

The trailhead for the Sagehen creek hike is found along highway 89 heading North towards Sierraville. The trail head is unmarked but is 6.8 miles from the Interstate 80 and highway 89 junction. There is a dirt parking area heading on the right after the Sagehen creek bridge is crosse

UPDATE: June 10, 2023

WHAT AN AMAZING SPRING!

An epic winter with tons of snow is now transitioning into early and late spring plants blooming at the same time . Fields of Camus Lily and American Bistort along with Shooting stars are abundant in the still wet meadows. Stampede reservoir is now almost to full capacity!

Camus Lily & Bistort, Stampede reservoir 2023

Carpets of Mahala mat and lots of Woollen Bridges line the trail…

Mahala Mat

Woollen Bridge

GO CHECK THIS TRAIL OUT!

CHECK OUT STAMPEDE RESERVOIR ON MAY 19th, 2021!

Sagehen map

UPPER MONTANE ZONE:

The hike along Sagehen creek meanders through the mixed pine and riparian habitats of the Upper Montane Zone between 6,000 to 7,000 ft. This mixed forest of Lodge poles and Jeffery Pines receives between 25-80 inches of rain/snow on an average year. The growing season is usually between 4-7 months but the best time to view the wildflowers is the early summer. The first part of the trail follows along Sagehen Creek which provides habitats for a variety of riparian plants.

TRY ADDING YOUR OWN OBSERVATIONS INTO THE iNATURALIST LOWER-SAGEHEN CREEK HIKING TRAIL PROJECT

Sagehen Creek trail

The plants that may be seen as you walk along the Sagehen creek trail to Stampede Reservoir are listed below. (All flowers were seen in late June and the beginning of July, 2011, 2012, May 2013 June 2014 and 2015 and a few from 2016, 2018, 2019 & 2020 & 2021

The trail follows the creek and winds through mixed riparian pine forest. Along the way Snowplant, California Valerium, Crimson Columbine, Western Buttercup, Lemond’s Willow, Crest Lupin, Corn lilies and Mountain Geranium.

Corn Lilly

Common Name: Mountain Geranium

Scientific Name: Geranium richardsonii

Family: Geraniaceae

Notes: Notice the nector lines on the petals.

Snowplant

Common name: Snowplant

Scientific name: Sarcodes sanguinea

Family: Ericaceae

Notes: Snowplants are non-photosynthesizing and rely on their mutualistic relationship with mycorrhizal fungi to help absorb the nutrients they need from their surrounding.

California Valerium

Common Name: California Valerium

Scientific Name: Valeriaum californica

Family: Valerianceae

Notes: This flower has a very strong disagreeable order and blooms early in the season.

Crimson Columbine

Common Name: Crimson Columbine

Scientific Name: Aquilegia formosa

Family: Ranunculaceae

Notes: The crimson color of the Columbine attracts hummingbirds.

Lemmond’s Willow
female

Common name: Lemmond’s Willow

Scientific name: Salix lemmonii

Family: Salicaceae

Notes: Like other Willows this tree is moisture loving and can grow adventitious roots when flooding occurs. It is dioecious having unisexual flowers on separate male and female plants.

Male Anthers of Willow

Trail

The trail follows along on the edge of the pine forest understory and Sagehen creek. Here plants which like some sun exposure and moisture can be found.

Cre

Common name: Crest Lupin

Scientific name: Lupinus arbustus

Family: Fabaceae

Notes: Crest Lupins like other lupins can live in nutrient poor soil due to its mutualistic relationship with nitrogen fixing bacteria. Look for the spur protruding from the calyx,

Sierra Current

Common name: Sierra Current

Scientific name: Ribes nevadense

Family: Grossulariaceae

Notes: The berries of Sierra Current are edible.

Caterpillar Phacelia

Common name: Caterpillar Phacelia

Scientific name: Caterpillar phacelia

Family: Boranginaceae

Notes: Check out the hairs on this plant

Green Manzanita

Common Name: Green Leaf Manzanita

Scientific Name: Arctostaphylos patula

Family: Ericaceae

Notes: Manzanitas have a mutalistic mycorrhizal fungi living in their roots which helps them to live in nutrient poor soils.

Applegate’s Paintbrush

Scientific Name: Castilleja applegatei

Common Name: Applegate’s paintbrush

Family: Orbanchaceae

Notes: The Castilleja speices are parasites that tap the root systems of neighboring plants to obtain water and nutrients!

Mahala Mat Manzanita

Common Name: Mahala Mat Manzanita

Scientific Name: Ceanothus prostratus

Family: Rhamanaceae

Notes: Mahala mat is sometimes referred to as Squaw Mat and usually blooms early in the season.

Sierra Serviceberry

Common Name: Sierra Serviceberry

Scientific Name: Amelanchier utahensis

Family: Roseaceae

Notes: Service Berry blooms early in the season. The seeds of the Serviceberry are edible.

Serviceberry flower

The trail continues through a mixed pine habitat of Jeffery Pines, Lodgepole pines and into a more open chaparral area charactized by more volcanic soil. Along the way Woolly Mule ears, Wax Current, Mountain Pennyroyal, Blue-eyed Mary, Tobacco Brush, Sticky Cinquefoil, Arrow leafed Balsam-root and others can be seen.

Lodgepole Pine cone

Common Name: Lodge Pole Pine

Scientific Name: Pinus contorta-murrayana

Family: Pinaceae

Notes: Lodge pole pines can tolerate both wet anaerobic environments as well as dry rocky soils. The genus, contorta, refers to the ability of Lodge Pole pines to grow around rocks and on the sides of cliffs.

Jeffery Pine

Common Name: Jeffery Pine

Scientific Name: Pinus jefferyi

Family: Pinaceae

Notes: The bark smells like “vanilla” and the cones are 6-10 inches long and will feel smoother to the touch compared with the similar looking Ponterrosa pines.

Woolly Mule Ears

Common Name: Woolly Mule ears

Scientific Name: Wyethia mollis

Family: Asteraceae

Notes: Woolly Mule ears tend to grow in open volcanic or disturbed soil and form large monoclones.

View of trail Mule Ears

Wax Current

Common Name: Wax Current

Scientific Name: Ribes cereum va.cereum

Family: Grossulariaceae

Notes: Wax Currents are often found on the slopes along the trail.

Common Name: Mountain Pennyroyal

Scientific Name: Monardella odoratissima ssp. pallida

Family: Lamiaceae

Notes: The Native Americans boiled the leaves and used it as

a treatment for aborations. These flowers attract a variety of native bees such as the Wool Carver bees.

Smooth Stickseed

Common name: Smooth Stickseed

Scientific name: Hackelia nervosa

Family: Boraginaceae

Notes: This plant has many hairs both on the stem and sepals. This plant is often called “Forget me nots” because they resemble the European genus Myosotis)

Common Name: Blue Eyed Mary

Scientific Name: Collinsia torreyi

Family: Plantagainaceae

Notes: Check out the pointed sepals and glandular hairs

Common Name: Tobacco Brush

Scientific Name: Ceanothus velutinus var. velutinus

Family: Rhamnaceae

Notes: This ceanothus along with Mt. White Thorn are ablaze with blossoms which are very fragrant in late June and early July.

Sticky Cinquefoil

Common Name: Sticky Cinquefoil

Scientific Name: Drymocallis glandulosa

Family: Rosaceae

Notes: This flower is often found in grassy open areas.

Common Name: Arrow Leafed Balsam Root

Scientific Name: Balsmorhiza sagittata

Familly: Asteraceae

Notes: This plant can be distinguished from Woolly Mule ears by its “arrow” shaped leaves.

Trail

The trail continues to wind through Mixed Pine and Fir habitat. Along the way mixed in the understory can be seen Drummond’s Rockcress, Long Stalked Clover, Mountain Violet, Brown’s Peony and False Solomon’s shield.

Drummond’s Catchfly

Common Name: Drummond’s CatchFly

Scientific Name: Boechera drummondii

Family: Caryophyllaceae

Notes:

Long Stalked Clover

Common Name: Long Stalked Clover

Scientific Name: Trifolium longipes

Family: Fabaceae

Notes: Clovers like Lupins have mutualistic rhyzobium bacteria living in their root nodules that “fix” nitrogen from the air and turn into nitrates the plant can use.

Baker’s violet

Common Name: Baker’s Violet

Scientific Name: Viola brownii

Family: Violaceae

Notes: Violets are cleistogamous and self pollinate. One of the places that this violet is typically found is in the Sagehen creek basin.

Baker’s violet

Brown’s Peony

Common Name: Brown’s Peony

Scientific Name: Paeionia brownii

Family: Paeoniaceae

Notes: Brown’s Peony are very primitive angiosperms characterized by little differentiation between leaves and the petals.

Brown Peony

Common Name: False Solomon’s Seal

Scientific Name: Maianthemum stellatum

Family: Rucaceae

Notes: This plant’s name is derived from an old species whose root scars looked similar to Solomon’s shield. This Solomon’s Seal differs from Star Solomon’s Seal because the flowers are arranged in one panicle off the top of the plant instead of several branching ones.

Beaver “tree”

The trail continues back along the edges of Sagehen creek where evidence of Beaver work can be seen.

Beaver work

The trail then leads to the beginning of Sagehen Meadows where Bistort, Sierra Yampah, Single Stemmed Groundsel, Yarrow , Meadowo Penstemon are ideal habitat for these flowers early in the season.

Sagehen Meadow 2013

Bistort

Common Name: American Bistort

Scientific Name: Bistorta bistortoides

Family: Polygonaceae

Notes: This flower is also known as “Ladies Thumb” because of its tightly packed inflorescence. The bistort flowers are pollinated by beetles and flies which are attracted to its order of decaying meat. It has also been called stinky socks!

Sierra Yampah

Common Name: Sierra Yampah

Scientific Name: Perideridia

Family: Apiaceae

Notes: This flower is also known as “Sierra Queen Anne’s Lace”. The roots were eaten by Native Americans who liked their sweet, nutty flavor. The Shoshone word for this plant is Yampah!

Single Stemmed Groundsel

Common Name: Singlestem groundsel

Scientific Name: Senecio integerriums

Family: Asteraceae

Notes: This plant blooms early in the season.

Yarrow

Common Name: Yarrow

Scientific Name: Achillea millefolium

Family: Asteraceae

Notes: The Native Americans used the Yarrow leaves to treat injuries.

Meadow whorled Penstemon

Common Name: Meadow Penstemon

Scientific Name: Penstemon rydbergii

Family: Plantaginaceae

Notes: This penstemon can be distinguished from Slender Penstemon, Penstemon gracilentus by its shorter stems (penduncles) which groups of purplish flowers bloom. This flower usually blooms after the Camus Lilies.

In the moist parts of Sagehen meadow especially right after snow melts can be found Sierra Shooting Stars, Camus Lilies, Common Monkey Flowers, Low Phacelia, Sierra Lewisia and others.

Sagehen Meadow May 2015

Sierra Shooting Star

Common Name: Sierra Shooting star

Scientific Name: Primula jeffreyi

Family: Primulaceae

Notes: After the flower is pollinated it points it’s petal downward.

Camus Lily

Common Name: Camus Lily

Scientific Name: Camassia quamash

Family: Agavaceae

Notes: Sagehen Meadows is one of the best places in the Tahoe basin besides Paige Meadows to see a large meadow of Camus lilies. The Camus Lily bulbs were a staple of the Native Americans.

Common Monkey Flower

Common Name: Common Monkey flower

Scientific Name: Erythranthe guttatus

Family: Phyrmaceae

Notes: The leaves of this plant were used as Salad greens.

Low Phacelia

Common Name: Low Phacelia

Scientific Name: Phacelia humilis

Family: Boranginaceae

Notes: This plant is characterized by a dense mat of whitish hairs.

Common Name: Sierra Lewisia

Scientific Name: Lewisia nevadensis

Family: Montiaceae

Notes: This plant is often found in moist areas with Common Monkey flower and other moisture loving plants.

Stempede Reservoir JUNE 2011

The trail ends at Stampede reservoir. The plants that maybe seen along the slopes of the reservoir as proceed along the edge of the reservoir are Quacking Aspens, Water Plantain Buttercup, and Mosses.

View of the reservoir in 2011 after an epic winter.

Stampede Reservoir May 2013

Stampede Reservoir 2013

View of reservoir from Sagehen meadows in 2015 after 4 years of below average snow.

View toward Stampede 2015

Quacking Aspen

Common Name: Quacking Aspen

Scientific Name: Populus tremoides

Family: Salicaceae

Notes: Aspens reproduce most often by underground roots resulting in large patches of trees. Aspen trunks can undergo photosynthesis in the early spring and late fall.

Water Plantain Buttercup

Common Name: Water Plantain Buttercup

Scientific Name: Ranunculus alismifolius

Family: Ranunculaceae

Notes: Buttercups get there name for the waxy appearance of their flowers due to

starch granules.

Water Plantain Buttercup

Moss

Common Name: Moss

Scientific Category: Bryophyte

Notes: Bryophytes are the simplest of true plants but lack true stems and roots. They reproduce

by spores.

Look for Butterflies such as the Riding’s Forester which like to hang out on Bistort:

Trail

As you work your way back to the trailhead look along the trail for plants that like the drier habitats in amongst the Sagebrush and Bitter brush. Scarlet Gilia, Pussy Paws, Gay Penstemon, Tuberous sanicle, Sand Corn, Woolen Breeches, Bitterbrush,Pearly Everlasting and Elk Thistle (one of Tahoe’s native thistles)

Scarlet Gilia

Common Name: Scarlet Gilia

Scientific Name: Ipomopsis aggregata

Family: Polemoniaceae

Notes: This plant is also known as “Sky rocket” and the red color of the Scarlet Gilia’s flowers attracts hummingbirds and other pollinators.

Scarlet Gilia

Pussy Paws in the morning

Common Name: One Seeded Pussy Paws

Scientific Name: Calyptridium unbellatum

Family: Montiaceae

Notes: The flower stems of this plant rise with the warmth of the day.

One Seeded Pussy Paws in the afternoon

Gay Penstemon

Common Name: Gay Penstemon

Scientific Name: Penstemon roezlii

Family: Plantaginaceae

Notes: The flower petals of the Gay Penstemon in the North Tahoe basin tend to have blue petals where as the those petals in the South Tahoe basin tend to be more rose-purple in color. Gay penstemon has linear leaves compared with Showy and Azure penstemon.

Tuberous Sanicle

Common Name: Northern Sanicle

Scientific Name: Sanicula gravelons

Family: Apiaceae

Notes: Look for this plant early in the season. Rub the leaves with your fingers and then smell them. You might notice its smell is similar to cilantro,

Common Name: Elk Thistle

Scientific Name: Cirsium scariosum

Family: Asteraceae

Notes: This thistle is usually found in a variety of volcanic and metamorphic soils.

Common Name: Foothills Death Camus

Scientific Name: Toxicoscordium paniculatus

Family: Melanthiaceae

Notes: Like Death Camus, this plant is toxic.

Foothills Death Camus

Foothills Death Camus

Woolen Breeches

Common Name: Woolen Breeches

Scientific Name: Hydrophyllum captiatium var. apininum

Family: Boranginaceae

Notes: Woolen Breeches are characterized by their dense flower heads found more near the base of the plant.

Bitter brush flowers

Common Name: Bitterbrush

Scientific Name: Pushia tridentata

Family: Roseaceae

Notes: This plant is also known as Antelope brush and is a favorite food source for deer.

Pearly Everlasting

Common Name: Pearly Everlasting

Scientific Name: Anaphalis margaritacea

Family: Asteraceae

West Side Sagehen Creek

ACROSS HWY 89 (west side ) from the Sagehen creek trail head in early summer is a very moist ven area. Plants that thrive on this moisture can be found such as: Bog Saxifage, Marsh Marigold, Mountain Strawberry, Sierra Rein Orchid, Mosses, Liverworts, and Monkshood.

Bog Saxifrage

Common Name: Bog Saxifrage

Scientific Name: Micranthes oregana

Family: Saxifragaceae

Notes: This plant has bright orange stamens that characterize it.

Marsh Marigold

Common Name: Marsh Marigold

Scientific Name: Caltha leptosepala

Family: Ranunculaceae

Notes: The leaves of this plant are toxic if ingested.

Mountain Strawberry

Common Name: Mountain Strawberry

Scientific Name: Fragaria virginiana (potentilla)

Family: Rosacea

Notes: This plant forms low grown masses by sending out horizontal stems.

Sierra Rein Orchid

Common Name: Sierra Rein Orchid

Scientific Name: Planthera platinum

Family: Orchidaceae

Notes: This plant is also known as Sierra Bog orchid.

Moss

Common Name: Moss

Scientific Name: Plannioniyam

Division: Bryophytes

Notes: This group of primitive plants have no true roots or stems and reproduce by spores.

Liverwort

Common Name: Liverwort

Scientific Name: Marcantia

Division: Bryophyta

Notes: The “leaves” are referred to as a thallus and will trap air in chambers inside the tissue.

Monkshood

Common Name: Monkshood

Scientific Name: Aconitum columbianum

Family: Ranunculaceae

Notes: There are variable forms of the petals that can appear whitish and well as light blue.

Other Tahoe Flower Hikes and flower information can be seen by checking out the Winnemucca & Round Top Lake loop and the Frog Lake to Winnemucca Lake hike. Also, check out new entries coming summer of 2020 Ridings forester

All photographs were taken by Lynn Hori. Plant information was gathered from: Plants of the Tahoe Basin by Michael Graft, A Natural History of Western Trees by Donald Culross Peattie, Sierra Nevada Natural History by Tracy I. Storer and Robert L. Ursinger, National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers by John W. Tieret and William A. Niering and Sierra Nevada by John Muir Laws. Trail information was gathered from Top Trails Lake Tahoe by Mike White.

All family names and most genera reflect Jepson 2012.

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TAHOE FLOWER HIKES