The Story
Antler Gap Forest is the keystone preserve in our Ridge-to-River Wildlife Corridor — 410 acres of oak woodland with stands of coast live oak old enough to have survived two logging eras that took nearly everything around them. When we protected it in 2015, the land was under a signed letter of intent for a 40-lot ridge-top subdivision; the deal that saved it closed nineteen days before that entitlement would have become vested.
Camera traps we’ve maintained here since 2016 have logged mountain lion, black bear, and gray fox using the same game trails generation after generation — evidence this preserve was already functioning as a corridor segment long before we had the word for it. The oak canopy here is dense enough that acorn production alone supports a measurable share of the regional wild turkey and mule deer population through the winter months.
Antler Gap is open to the public on docent-led hikes only; the terrain and the sensitivity of the wildlife corridor make unguided access impractical, but every Guardian-level member and above receives a standing invitation to first-look hikes whenever we add new trail segments.
