Big Break Regional Shoreline

The Great California Delta offers many options for experiencing the outdoors, but Big Break Regional Shoreline, part of the 1,150-squaremile Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, is a good place to get started.

Big Break marks the spot where an asparagus farm was inundated by a 1928 levee break, submerging the farm and creating the largest estuarine environment on the

Pacific Coast.

The Sacramento and San Joaquin — California’s two greatest rivers — flow past Big Break, which lies on the edge of the San Joaquin. A little farther down, the two freshwater rivers, fed by snow melt in the Sierra, meet the salty water flowing in from the San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean.

This confluence creates an “edge effect,” which increases habitat

Seven distinctive natural habitats can be found in just 40 acres at this Santa Clara park, which opened in 2001 after volunteer efforts to restore California native vegetation and preserve wildlife habitat.

The park originally was used as a seasonal encampment for the Ohlone Indians, and the name of the park, Ulistac, honors an Ohlone chief.

The park itself has no activity facilities, restrooms or picnic areas; those are available next door at the Lick Mill Park. Instead, devote your visit to Ulistac to exploring those natural habitats.

Trails have interpretive panels that offer additional information on the natural history of the area.

DETAILS >> The park is open from sunrise until 30 minutes after sunset daily at 4901 Lick Mill Blvd. in Santa Clara; www.ulistac.org.

ARIC CRABB — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER A view of the Delta is photographed from Big Break Regional Shoreline in Oakley.

DAI SUGANO — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Santa Clara’s Ulistac Natural Area may be just 40 acres, but it houses seven distinctive habitats.