Interpretive Panel #2 Park History and Habitat Restoration

Spanish Version Located Here 

Centennial Park’s 365 acres are filled with a wide diversity of natural resources. The southern edge of the park is bisected by Pine Tree Creek and three small tributaries of Horse Creek run through the northern portion of the park. Several beaver dams along the creeks have created small wetlands full of frogs, birds and other wildlife, while the grasslands in the interior of the park include several large vernal pools that were created as a result of construction of the Putah South Canal which restricted the area’s natural drainage.

The southwest portion of the park served as the City dump in the early 1900s while lands to the east later served as the City’s sewer treatment plant and evaporation ponds. The northern portion of the park was dry-land farmed for many decades until 1980 when this area was obtained by the City’s Redevelopment Agency to serve as additional parkland.  A farmstead once existed near the northern tributary of Horse Creek and a Sacramento Northern railroad line defined what is now the western edge of the park.

Although these historical land uses reduced the presence and quality of native vegetation that once grew naturally in the park, in recent years some of the remaining natural plant communities have been restored and enhanced while recreational opportunities have also been improved. 

 
_{A new all-weather trail and 10 natural history interpretive panels were installed as part of the Centennial Park Restoration Project.  Photo credits: Katherine Holmes, Solano RCD}

Starting in the late 1990s, the City of Vacaville began developing a variety of active recreational amenities in the southern portion of the park, including ball fields, tennis courts and soccer fields, as well as constructing a 1.1 mile-long pedestrian/bike trail on the old railway line.  Two Cal Fire grants were awarded to increase the number of trees in the Park – the first grant was obtained in the 1990s and created a riparian forest along the southern tributary of Horse Creek.  The second grant was obtained in 2012 and provided funding for the planting of 450 trees and large shrubs along both sides of the old railroad corridor and under PG&E’s power transmission lines.  In 2019, a 1.4 acre off-leash dog park was added to the south-central portion of the Park. 

In 2014, the City of Vacaville and Solano Resource Conservation District received an Urban Greening Grant from the California Natural Resources Agency.  This grant funded the Centennial Park Restoration Project, with the goal of improving wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities along both the middle and north tributaries of Horse Creek. 

The Project installed 3,750 linear feet of all-weather surfaced trails in 2015.  These new trails, when combined with other already-existing trails, allow park visitors to utilize multiple loop combinations of trails that total 3.5 miles in length and also serve nicely for 5k run/walk events. The Project installed ten interpretive panels located at intervals along the new trails to provide visitors with information about a variety of natural history topics that can be observed at those specific locations. 

 
_{Solano RCD staff disced and augered the site to prepare for native grass seeding and tree planting as part of the Centennial Park Restoration Project.  Photo credits: Katherine Holmes, Solano RCD}

Between 2015 and 2019, Solano Resource Conservation District designed and installed 15 acres of riparian, wetland, and upland native plant communities in the park, including seeding 640 pounds of native grasses and wildflowers, and planting 2,250 native trees & shrubs and 24,000 native sedge & forb plugs as part of the Project.  Non-native weeds were controlled throughout the project area and over 500 non-native trees that were invading the Horse Creek tributaries were removed.

 
_{Community volunteers helped plant 2,250 native trees and shrubs as part of the Centennial Park Restoration Project.  Photo credits: Katherine Holmes, Solano RCD}

Community-based restoration practices were used throughout the Project. Sixteen volunteer events and twelve classroom field trips from nearby schools gave community members and students the opportunity to participate in the planting efforts and help improve their local park.  Two restoration ecology classes from the University of California at Davis adopted the site, allowing college students to learn about restoration design and installation. Nine bird surveys were sponsored by the Napa-Solano Audubon Society to inventory bird and wildlife use of the park.

This information has been provided by the City of Vacaville in partnership with the Solano Resource Conservation District.  It was last updated on June 17, 2020.