Past NCGS Field Trips
This table lists the field trips we have conducted since our founding in 1944. Particularly during 2003–2006, NCGS members created reports of these outings for posting online. They give some of the flavor of these trips, and several are quite detailed. These are indicated by “Report” in the table.
Printed guidebooks for past NCGS field trips, generally older than five years, are provided as PDF files for the noncommercial, scientific or educational use of NCGS members and the public. These are indicated by “PDF” in the table. More recent guidebooks may be available for sale at NCGS meetings.
None of these publications, in whole or in part, may be sold, used for any commercial purposes, or republished (on paper or online) without the express written permission of the Northern California Geological Society.
Our field trip guides have historical as well as scientific value. If you have copies of any older guides that aren’t posted here, we’d like to digitize them and add them to this table.
| Trip | Date | Leader | Leader Affiliation | PDFs/ Reports |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franciscan Complex at Point Richmond and Point Molate | 2023-5-27 | Tom MacKinnon Will Schweller | Retired Chevron Retired Chevron | |
| Mount Diablo Summit and West Flank | 2019-11-2 | Will Schweller Don Medwedeff | Retired Chevron Independent | |
| Geologic Tour of the Devil’s Slide Trail, San Mateo County | 2018-11-03 | Will Schweller | Retired Chevron | |
| Ring Mountain, Marin County | 2018-05-19 | Bill Motzer Mark Petrofsky | ||
| Geologic Tour of the Devil’s Slide Trail, San Mateo County | 2017-11-04 | Will Schweller | Retired Chevron | |
| A Walk along the Old Bay Margin in Downtown San Francisco – Tracing the Events of the 1906 Earthquake & Fire | 2017-02-26 | Ray Sullivan Greg Bartow | SFSU Emeritus CA State parks | |
| Anatomy and Provenance of a Deep-water Boulder Conglomeratic Submarine Canyon in the Upper Cretaceous Panoche Formation, Central California | 2015-10-24 | Todd Greene | CSU Chico | |
| The Geysers – Geothermal Energy | 2015-07-25 | Joe Beall Craig Hartline | Calpine Corporation | |
| Monterey-Santa Margarita Petroleum System of the Santa Cruz Coast, California | 2015-04-25 | Allegra Hosford- Scheirer Les Magoon | Stanford | |
| Visit to UC Museum of Paleontology | 2015-04-18 | |||
| The Hayward Fault – Identifying Urban and Natural Features in the East Bay | 2014-10-25 | Joyce Blueford Ray Sullivan | Math Science Nucleus SFSU Emeritus | |
| Calaveras Dam Replacement Project | 2014-10-24 | Greg Bartow | SFPUC | |
| Ancient Submarine Landslides in a Submarine Canyon Fill – The Carmelo Formation at Point Lobos | 2014-05-03 | Edward Clifton | USGS Emeritus | |
| Geology of the Golden Gate Headlands | 2013-06-22 | Will Elder | National Park Service | |
| The Caldecott Fourth Bore Project: Tunneling through a Miocene Plate Boundary | 2012-11-02 | Chris Risden | CalTran | Report |
| Geological Field Trip on Mount Diablo | 2012-10-20 | Phil Reed et ux | NCGS | |
| Stroll to Subduction: Geology of Sunol Regional Wilderness, California | 2012-07-14 | John Wakabayashi | CSU Fresno | |
| Ocean Floor to the Shelf; The Lower Tertiary Sequences on the Flanks of Mt. Diablo | 2012-06-02 | Ray Sullivan | Emeritus, SFSU | |
| A Walk along the Old Bay Margin in Downtown San Francisco – Tracing the Events of the 1906 Earthquake & Fire | 2011-10-15 | Ray Sullivan | Emeritus, SFSU | |
| Geology of the Lake Tahoe Region, Nevada and California | 2011-06-25 | Richard Schweickert Jim Howle Winnie Kortemeier | Emeritus, U Nevada Reno USGS Carson City JC | |
| The Geology of the Abandoned Mt. Diablo Mine | 2010-11-13 | Joe Lovenitti Paul Horton | Alta Rock Energy The Source Group, Inc. | |
| A Walk along the Old Bay Margin in Downtown San Francisco – Tracing the Events of the 1906 Earthquake & Fire | 2010-10-16 | Ray Sullivan | Emeritus, SFSU | |
| Geology and Tectonics of the Smartville Complex, NW Sierra Nevada, California | 2010-09-18 | Eldridge Moores | Emeritus, UC Davis | Report |
| Mammoth Rocks and the Geology of the Sonoma Coast | 2010-04-25 | E. Breck Parkman Rolfe Erickson | California State Parks Emeritus, Sonoma S.U. | |
| A Tour of New Bay Bridge Construction: The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Seismic Safety Project | 2009-10-23 | Heather Rowe Jordana Jackson | CalTrans | Report |
| Gold Country Field Trip | 2009-06-13 | Ross Smith | Consultant | Report |
| The Geology of Sonoma Mountain, Sonoma County, California | 2009-05-02 | James Allen Luther Strayer Peter Holland Ron Rubin | CSU East Bay Vector Engineering AMEC Geomatrix | |
| Earthquake at UCB? – The Hayward Fault, Campus Retrofit, and the Seismological Laboratory | 2008-11-15 | Peggy Hellweg Doris Sloan Christine Shaff Craig Comertin | UC Berkeley | Report |
| Key Sites of Uplift and Glacial Constraints, Central Sierra Nevada | 2008-09-20 | Jeffrey Schaffer | Napa City College | |
| The Calaveras Fault in Santa Clara County, California | 2008-08-23 | Phil Stoffer Richard Sedlock | USGS SJSU | Report |
| Pt. Lobos to Pt. Reyes: Evidence of ~180 km Offset of the San Gregorio and Northern San Andreas Faults | 2008-05-10 | Kathleen Burnham | Independent Researcher | |
| Coso Geothermal System | 2008-03-28 | Andrew Sabin | Navy Geothermal Program, China Lake | Report |
| Wilson Grove & Petaluma Formations, Sonoma County, California | 2008-02-23 | James Allen Peter Holland | CSU East Bay Vector Engineering | |
| Geophysical Investigation of the Green Valley Fault | 2007-08-25 | James Lienkaemper Mitchell Craig | USGS CSU East Bay | |
| Crustal Deformation of the Eastern Sierra Frontal Fault | 2007-07-07 | Dylan Rood | LLNL & UCSB | |
| Devils Slide | 2007-05-12 | Grant Wilcox | CalTrans | Report |
| The World’s Smallest Mountain Range: The Sutter Buttes | 2007-04-21 | Brian Hausback | CSU Sacramento | Report |
| Field Geological Mapping Using Modern Technology | 2006-09-16 | George Brimhall | UC Berkeley | Report |
| Pt. Lobos to Pt. Reyes: Evidence of ~180 km Offset of the San Gregorio and Northern San Andreas Faults | 2006-05-20 | Kathleen Burnham | Consultant | Report |
| Tracing the Hayward Fault – A Potential Disaster Area | 2006-04-15 | Joyce Blueford Mitchell Craig | Math Science Nucleus CSU East Bay | Report |
| A Walk along the Old Bay Margin in Downtown San Francisco Tracing Events of the 1906 Earthquake & Fire | 2006-03-19 | Ray Sullivan | SFSU Emeritus | Report |
| Coastal Cliffs – Landslides and Urban Development | 2005-11-12 | Monty Hampton Orville Magoon Ray Sullivan et ux | USGS Emeritus Corps of Engineers (retired) SFSU Emeritus | Report |
| Panoche Hills Paleocene Cold Seeps | 2005-10-29 | Mel Erskine | Consultant | Report |
| Blueschists and Breweries (Brewschists II) | 2005-06-25 | John Wakabayashi | Consultant | Report |
| Robert Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve in Berkeley Hills | 2005-05-21 | Stephen Edwards | Tilden Botanic Garden | Report |
| Colorful Geology of the Fremont Area | 2005-03-12 | Joyce Blueford Paul Belasky | Math/Science Nucleus Ohlone College | Report |
| The Winemaker’s Dance: Exploring Terroir in the Napa Valley, California | 2004-10-30 | David Howell | USGS | Report |
| Geology of the Tiburon Peninsula, Marin County, California | 2004-09-11 | David Bero | Consultant | Report |
| Geology and Groundwater Resources of the Merced Formation in the Westside Basin of Coastal San Mateo and San Francisco Counties | 2004-07-10 | Ed Clifton Ralph Hunter Greg Bartow | USGS (Retired) S.F. Public Utility Commission | Report |
| Geology of the Mt. Diablo Structural Domain | 2004-05-01 | Ron Crane | Consultant | Report |
| Mesozoic and Tertiary Stratigraphy of the Burdell Mountain Area and Implications for Slip along the East Bay Fault System | 2003-11-22 | Rick Ford | San Francisco State University | Report |
| Geology of the Point Reyes Area | 2003-09-27 | Tom MacKinnon John (Rusty) Gilbert | Consultant Chevron | Report |
| Geology of the Clear Lake Volcanic Field, California | 2003-08-02 | Rolfe Erickson | CSU Sonoma | Report |
| Geology of the Right Stepover Region Between the Rodgers Creek, Healdsburg, and Maacama Faults | 2003-06-07 | Bob McLaughlin Dave Wagner Andrei Sarna-Wojcicki | USGS Calif Geological Survey | Report |
| Diablo Antiform – Diablo Range Intersection | 2003-05-10 | Ron Crane | Consultant | Report |
| Franciscan Metasedimentary Section at Pacheco Pass | 2003-04-12 | Gary Ernst | Stanford | Report |
| Northbrae Rhyolite / Silica-rich Rocks in the Berkeley Hills | 2003-02-22 | Lin Murphy | Report | |
| San Francisco Bay-Delta Tidal Hydraulic Model | 2003-01-11 | Robert Stevenson | US Army Corps of Engineers | Report |
| Regional Hayward Fault Field Trip and Tyson’s Lagoon/Tule Pond Trench Site | 2002-10-13 | Russell Graymer Jim Lienkaemper | USGS | |
| Geology of the Eastern Belt of the Northern Sierra Nevada and 16:1 Gold Mine Tour | 2002-06-29 | Elwood Brooks Ray Wittcopp | CSU Hayward, Emeritus 16:1 Mine | Report |
| Structure and Geology of Mount Diablo | 2002-05-18 | Ron Crane Craig Lyon | Consultant Retired | |
| Geology and Sequence Stratigraphy of Black Diamond Mine | 2002-04-06 | Ray Sullivan Morgan Sullivan | SFSU (Retired) Exxon Mobil | Report |
| Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and Moss Landing Marine Laboratory | 2002-01-26 | Gary Greene | Moss Landing Marine Laboratory | |
| The Golden B.E.A.R. Tour 2001 (Blueschists, Eclogites, Amphibolites, Refreshments) | 2001-05-19 | John Wakabayashi | Consultant | |
| Caldecott Tunnel | 2001-03-03 | Grant Wilcox | CalTrans | |
| Chalk Bluff Preserve | 2000-10-28 | David Lawler Rudy Kopf | Farwest Geoscience Foundation | |
| Constraints on the Distribution of Slip and the Evolution of the Northern San Andreas Fault System | 2000-06-24 | John Wakabayashi Scott Dickerman | Consultant | Report |
| Patterson Pass / Corral Hollow | 2000-04-29 | Ron Crane | Consultant | |
| Volcanics of the San Francisco Bay Region | 1999-10-16 | Andrei Sarna- Wojcicki | USGS | |
| Vallecitos Syncline and Coalinga Fossil Hunt | 1999-10-02 | Mel Erskine Bill Howell | Consultant 3-D Environmental | |
| Del Puerto Canyon | 1999-08-21 | Ron Crane | Consultant | |
| American River Rafting | 1999-08-07 | Russ Graymer | USGS | |
| Ohlone Wilderness | 1999-06-26 | Ron Crane | Consultant | |
| Pleasanton Ridge and Family Picnic | 1999-06-05 | Patrick Hubbard | Treadwell & Rollo | |
| Mission Peak Landslide, Fremont | 1999-05-08 | David Rogers | Geolith Consultants | |
| Brushy Peak, Livermore and Altamont Hills | 1999-03-06 | Ron Crane Pat Sotello | Consultant Livermore Park Department | Report |
| Late Quaternary Climate and Tectonics in the San Andreas Fault Valley near Pt. Reyes | 1998-10-17 | Karen Grove | San Francisco State University | |
| The Franciscan Complex, San Francisco Bay Area: A Record of Subduction Complex Processes | 1998-07-18 | John Wakabayashi | Consultant | |
| Family Picnic and Geology on Mt. Diablo | 1998-06-20 | Craig Lyon | Consultant | |
| Geology of the Sutter Buttes | 1998-04-18 | Brian Hausback | CSU Sacramento | |
| Geology of the Western Sierra Nevada: Sacramento to Crystal Basin | 1997-10-11 | David Jones David Lawler | USGS (Retired) Far West Geoscience Foundation | |
| Hollister-Cienaga-Pinnacles National Monument | 1997-09-27 | Vince Matthews | Arizona State University | |
| Gold Deposits of the Sierra Nevada | 1997-06-14 | David Lawler Greg Wilkerson | Far West Geoscience Foundation BLM Bakersfield | |
| Monterey Bay Aquarium and Research Institute, and Moss Landing Marine Laboratories | 1997-03-15 | Gary Greene Debra Stakes | CSU-Moss Landing Marine Lab MBARI | |
| Keller Canyon Landfill and the Concord Naval Weapons Station | 1996-11-16 | Tim Bray Ray Sullivan | Consultant SFSU | |
| When Did Pt. Reyes Move North from Monterey? | 1996-10-19 | Earl Brabb Joe Clark | USGS | |
| New Idria-Coalinga Area | 1996-06-15 | Robert Coleman Steve Graham | Stanford | |
| Neogene Paleogeographies in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area | 1996-05-04 | Anna Buising | ||
| A Geologic Guide to the Wines of Napa Valley | 1995-10-21 | David Howell | USGS | |
| Tectonic Belts of the Sierra Nevada | 1995-06-10 | Howard Day | UC Davis | |
| Geology of the Mt. Diablo Region | 1995-05-06 1995-05-07 | Ron Crane Craig Lyon | Consultant | |
| Black Diamond Mine (Pacific Section AAPG) | 1995-05-06 | Ray Sullivan | San Francisco State University | |
| Blackhawk Ranch Fossil Mammal Quarry | 1994-11-12 | David Lawler | Far West Geoscience Foundation | |
| Geology of the Black Diamond Mines | 1994-10-15 | Ray Sullivan John Waters | San Francisco State University East Bay Regional Parks | |
| Geology of the Mt. Diablo Region | 1994-04-23 1994-05-07 | Ron Crane Craig Lyon | Consultant | |
| Remediation of Soil and Groundwater | 1994-03-19 | Benjamin Roberts Ronald Michelson | Onsite Technologies | |
| Geology and Tectonics of the Southwestern Sacramento Valley and Adjacent Coast Ranges | 1993-10-02 | Eldridge Moore | UC Davis | |
| Environmental Geology of the Livermore Valley and Environs | 1993-05-15 | Ron Crane Stephanie Davis | Consultant | |
| Tertiary and Quaternary Tectonics of the Boundary between the Central Diablo Range and the San Joaquin Valley | 1992-11-14 | Mel Erskine | Consultant | |
| Late Cenozoic Geology of the North Bay Region | 1992-05-16 | Tom Wright Dave Schwartz | Consultant USGS | |
| Geology and Engineering Geology of Western Solano County (Joint with AEG) | 1991-10-12 | Sandy Figuers | ||
| The October 17, 1989 Earthquake: Geology and Impacts (AAPG field trip) | 1990-06-02 | Bob Kieckhefer Francoise Bertaux Ron Hamburger Mike Rojansky | Chevron Canonie Environmental Services | |
| San Andreas Fault and Franciscan Complex in Marin County (AAPG field trip) | 1990-06-02 | Bruce Bilodeau Stephanie Davis | Chevron | |
| Geology of Point Reyes | 1989-05-20 | Bruce Bilodeau | Chevron | |
| Geology of San Ramon Valley and Environs | 1988-04-30 | Ron Crane | Chevron | |
| Bay Model | 1987-06-20 | US Army Corps Engineers | ||
| Shallow Marine and Coastal Depositional Facies, Mussel Rock, Pacifica to Fort Funston, San Francisco | 1987-05-16 | Ed Clifton | USGS | |
| Submarine Canyons – Meganos Canyon and Sand, North Flank, Mt. Diablo | 1986-05-17 | Vic Cherven Pete Fischer | CSU Northridge | |
| Turbidites along the Coast South of San Francisco | 1985-05-04 | Tor Nilsen | RPI Pacific | |
| Monticello Dam to Marin Headlands | 1983-09-24 | Paul Bertucci John Kleist | Chevron | |
| Upper Cretaceous and Paleocene Turbidites, Central California Coast | 1981-05-29 | Virgil Frizzell | ||
| Marin County | 1981 | Combined NCGS-AAPG trip | ||
| San Francisco to Reno | 1981 | Combined NCGS-AAPG trip | ||
| Geology and Engineering in the Livermore-Hayward Region | 1979-05-05 | Leo Moir | California PUC | |
| A Look at the Franciscan Rocks of the Napa Valley | 1977-06-11 | NCGS | ||
| Western Margin Sacramento Valley – Clear Lake Area | 1975-05-10 | Ernest Rich Ray Ingersoll | Stanford | |
| Raised Pleistocene Terraces and Upper Tertiary Sedimentary Rocks of Santa Cruz | 1974-10-12 | R.E. Garrison L.F. Laporte G. Weber | UC Santa Cruz | |
| Ophiolites in the Mesozoic Subduction Zone of Central California (Del Puerto Canyon) | 1974-04-20 | Bob Coleman | USGS | |
| San Francisco Bay Model, Sausalito | 1974-01-19 | Laurie Crebassa | Army Corps of Engineers | |
| The Geysers, Sonoma County | 1973-09-29 | John Kilkenny | ||
| Mother Lode Country | 1973-04-28 | Oliver Bowen | ||
| Environmental Geology of Northeastern Flank of the Santa Cruz Mountains | 1972-05-20 | Tom Rogers | CA Div Mines & Geology | |
| Hayward, Calaveras, and San Andreas Faults, Hayward to Hollister | 1971-05-08 | Bob Nason T.H. Rogers | Earthquake Mechanism Lab | |
| San Andreas Fault and Point Reyes Peninsula | 1970-05-16 | Alan Galloway Robert Brown | USGS | |
| Mount Diablo and Livermore Valley | 1969-05-17 | Earl Pampeyan H.E. Wollenberg | USGS Lawrence Radiation Lab | |
| Mount Diablo – Camp Parks | 1969 | NCGS | ||
| Geysers Geothermal Power Project, Sonoma County | 1968-09-28 | J.B. Koenig | CDMG | |
| East Side Salinas Valley | 1966 | |||
| Sacramento Valley | 1962 | Combined NCGS-AAPG trip | ||
| Santa Cruz Mountains | 1962 | Combined NCGS-AAPG trip | ||
| Point Reyes Peninsula and San Andreas Fault | 1962 | Combined NCGS-AAPG trip | ||
| Geologic Guide to the Merced Canyon and Yosemite Valley, California | 1962 | Combined NCGS-AAPG trip | ||
| San Francisco Peninsula | 1962 | Combined NCGS-AAPG trip | ||
| North Flank of Mount Diablo | 1962 | Combined NCGS-AAPG trip | ||
| Capay Valley, Wilbur Springs, Westside Sacramento Valley | 1954-05-07 | Gordon Oakeshott | Combined NCGS-AAPG trip | |
| Northern Mt. Diablo Area | 1950-05-13 | Al Solari | Standard Oil | |