Home - Visitor Information - Faire Overview - Maps - Actors & Entertainment - Merchants - Combatants

When

Saturday, November 8th, 2008 10:00 a.m. to dusk

Sunday, November 9th, 2008 10:00 a.m. to dusk

Where

Sycamore Island Park, Madera, California

Admission

Entrance fee is $7.00 per person, $1 discount with a canned food donation.

Map(s)

From Fresno: North on Hwy41, east on Childrens Blvd, south on Rd40, west on Avenue 7 1/2. Watch forthe sign on your left in the orchard. Follow the gravel road down to the smaller of 2 buildings (Park HQ and the Bait Shop) This is where you pay.

From Madera/Merced: From Hwy99, east on Avenue9 about 8 miles, South on Rd40, rest same as above.

Click on image below for a larger size version

The above map was made from an aerial photo taken in 2004 and colorized through Adobe Photoshop. Note that the current dried up waterway now known as the "North Channel" was the original course of the river. The gravel company diverted water away from it to facilitate operations. Today, the "southern diversion" is considered the main course of the river. The North Channel is considered by some to be "man-made" , however, historically this is not so. After the large release of water from Friant Dam in 2005, the river deepened its course along the southern bluff, leaving the channel high and dry. It would take nearly a 2 foot rise in water level for water to begin flowing through it again.....or a rock weir near the confluence to create a higher level. It was the water in the North Channel that largely fed the ponds to the north. Another option to restore water to the drying ponds would be to dig a ditch to river level to connect the corner of the Old Muddy into the first dry pond. This would feed water into the ponds without detracting from the current "south channel" and would not be dependant upon high water releases to maintain viability.

Home - Visitor Information - Faire Overview - Maps - Actors & Entertainment - Merchants - Combatants