Lopez Hill is the point of origin for important island watersheds, and is home to diverse and relatively pristine plant and animal communities. It affords feeding and nesting grounds for many varieties of birds and small mammals, and browse and shelter for deer. A broad spectrum of island flora—from fungi and saprophytes, lichens, and mosses, to ferns and tender broadleaf plants including delicate chocolate and calypso lilies, to a full range of island shrubs and trees—thrive on the hill’s rocky knolls, shady slopes and moist canyons. In all these ways, the hill represents a diverse and undisturbed inland sanctuary, a source of ecological strength and regeneration.

Read the Land Bank’s Ecological Assessment of the Hill:

Lopez Hill Ecological Assessment Final 2010

Calypso orchid, Calypso bulbosa

Calypso orchid white form, Calypso bulbosa albiflora

Spotted coralroot, Corallorrhiza maculata

Fawn lily, Erythronium oreganum

Camas lily, Camassia leichtlinii

Chocolate lily, Fritillaria_ anceolata

Garter snake

Oyster mushrooms, Pleurotus ostreatus, growing on an Alder log. Photo by Adrienne Adams.

Camas and buttercups on the top of The Hill

Twinflower, Linnaea borealis

Skunk cabbage, Lysichiton americanus

Red legged frog, Rana aurora

Rocky Mountian maple on Three Cedars Trail

Sea blush, Plectritis congesta. Photo by Adrienne Adams.

Lush gardens of mosses and lichens are a hallmark of Lopez Hill

One of the Hill’s many mossy outcroppings

Turkey Tail mushrooms, Trametes versicolor

Pink wintergreen, leafless form, Pyrola asarifolia aphylla

All photos by Adrienne Adams