SFI: Upper Table Rock: Confluence of Geology, Geomorphology, and Ecology

For $70 take a guided journey into the relationship between the natural processes of geomorphology, geobotany and ecology. Seven million years ago, a massive outpouring of lava swept down the ancestral canyon of the Rogue River and spread across the plain north of modern-day Central Point — leaving us today with the 800-foot high mesa-buttes of Table Rocks. Fractures provide pathways for erosion, as well as a moist refuge where roots can anchor and vegetation take hold. The prairie habitat found atop Table Rocks hosts grassy soil mounds and vernal pools amid an expansive lava flat, and supports diverse plant communities including the dwarf woolly meadowfoam, an endemic species only found atop Table Rocks. Explore a bounty of wildflowers in their oak woodland habitat as you amble up a well-beaten path onto the flat-topped summit of Upper Table Rock. Central Point, OR