Rabbit Hill Preserve
Serpentine Stones for Seats
Rabbit Hill Preserve is open dawn to dusk
Rabbit Hill Preserve is located at 21281 Stewart St., in Middletown, CA. (directions list below)
Rabbit Hill is a 9.5 acre serpentine outcropping with stunning 360 degree views of Middletown valley and the surrounding mountains. It is located at 21281 Stewart Street, Middletown, CA. The preserve is open to the public from sunrise to sundown and leashed dogs are welcome. There is a picnic table on site, but no bathroom facilities.
Owned and stewarded by the Lake County Land Trust since 1999, Rabbit Hill remains a favorite small park in Middletown. The short trail to the top allows for beautiful views of sunsets and sunrises, quiet solace and a place to enjoy a picnic. The native plant life is an important and protected feature. Most of the area is a Serpentine outcropping and is home to some unusual and rare flora. Serpentine rock and soils are derived from the ocean bottom and contain unique chemical properties. These conditions support endemic species of plants only found on serpentine.
In 2015 the Valley Fire raced over Rabbit Hill, burning most of the vegetation, but the resilient plant community has returned and is wonderful to view. Since the Valley Fire, an art installation has been installed along with benches to sit and contemplate the beauty of the area. The Lake County Land Trust worked in conjunction with the Middletown Art Center to install the Gateway to the Sky natural sculpture by artist Marcus Maria Jung.
Huck Hamann died in 1975 and Skee continued to live and care for the property until 1980 when she moved to a Mrs. Spooner's house on Hwy. 175. Reports state that by 1983, when Skee Hamann died, much of the work they had put into the property had fallen into disrepair and it wasn't until the early 1990's that work began to find a local steward for the land. Madrone Audubon deeded the property to the Lake County Land Trust in April of 1999.
The Lake County Land Trust partners with Middletown Art Center, Middletown High School and CAL Fire to protect, upgrade and honor the wishes of Skee and Huck Hamann to keep this small and unique preserve open to the public.
History of Rabbit Hill
Rabbit Hill was first turned into a nature sanctuary by Juanita "Skee" Hamann and Hugo "Huck" Hamann in the 1950's when they retired to Middletown from Los Altos. In the 1960’s the Hammans introduced many young people to the wonders of nature, jewelry making out of local rocks and creating and playing shepherds pipes In November of 1966 the Hamann's were devastated when their daughter, Joan Hamann Dole, was murdered at her home in nearby Anderson Springs and they decided the nature sanctuary should be a tribute to her memory.
In 1968 the property was deeded to the Madrone Audubon Society although the Hamanns continued to live on the property caring for the birds using the feeders and birdbaths they had developed on the property and growing vegetables in fifty-five gallon drum halves. The Hamann's also used stones on the property to construct restrooms and a shelter for their trailer. In the summer they slept outside on a screened platform.
How to get to Rabbit Hill Preserve
***Google Maps or MapQuest may take you to the wrong location.***
Please use these directions:
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Take Hwy 29 to Middletown.
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Turn West on 175 toward Cobb.
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Turn South (left) on Stewart Street.
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Rabbit Hill Preserve is about 1/2 mile down on your left.
Water Baskets at Rabbit Hill
The Water Baskets pay tribute to the cultural legacy of the original stewards of this land, and to its indigenous flora and fauna. Water is life.
The stunning Water Basket murals on the two water tanks on Rabbit Hill on Callayomi County Water District's property have been joined by the completion of a third, smaller tank “Birds’ Blessings” on the south side of the hill on Lake County Land Trust’s natural preserve property. This smaller tank is owned by Cal Fire and clearly visible when driving into Middletown from South Highway 29.
Water Basket is a collaboration between Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California, Callayomi County Water District, and the Middletown Art Center funded by the partners and by the National Endowment for the Arts with additional local funding. The project honors the Original people, their cultural heritage, and the ecology of the area with designs by Trelasa Baratta & Lorraine Triana Rueda. For more info. visit middletownartcenter.org/waterbasket.
Following the public design selection for the Water Baskets, Mike Wink from Cal Fire approached MAC’s Executive Director, Lisa Kaplan, to see if she could help with a mural for Cal Fire’s tank on the Lake County Land Trust’s property on Rabbit Hill. Kaplan approached the Land Trust for a partnership to realize the project, & suggested that Birds’ Blessings by Darina Simeonova, another community favorite, be used.
The Land Trust agreed and shortly afterwards was contacted by Applied Energy Services (AES) representative Michael Huynh who expressed interest in supporting Land Trust efforts in the county and readily agreed for the company to fund the mural.
AES is a world-wide energy company focusing on sustainable, clean energy and is a leader in carbon-free and low carbon energy solutions. The company is planning a wind energy farm here in Lake County. Also contributing to the project was the Sierra Club Lake Group donating $1,000 and Susan Morton of Lakeport, also donating $1,000. Cal Fire contributed materials and supplies. AES has donated a total of $20,000 to the Lake County Land Trust for local projects - including $10,000 for the tank mural and another $10,000 for updating the nature education center at the Land Trust’s Rodman Preserve near Upper Lake.
