San Timoteo Nature Sanctuary exists on land that was home to indigenous people, including the Serrano, Cahuilla, and Soboba, for millennia. The Cocomaricopa Trail, a main trail between the Pacific Ocean and the Colorado River, ran through the gently-sloping canyon. The people traveled here, resided here, and hunted here.
As the Spanish missionaries gradually populated the California coastal area beginning in the 1770s, the inevitable encroachment of other cultures brought Spanish settlers, Mexican farmers, and Anglos in that order, to settle the canyon.
The Spanish relinquished their claims in 1826 as Mexicans won their independence; the Mexican government granted much of the San Bernardino Valley land, including San Timoteo Canyon, to the Lugo family; the Lugo family sold much of that land, including San Timoteo Canyon, to the Mormon Church in 1851; the Mormon Church sold much of the land, including San Timoteo Canyon, to Dr. Ben Barton in 1857; the Barton family sold San Timoteo Canyon and the ridge on the north to Alfred and Albert Smiley sometime in the 1880s; the Smileys sold parcels of the canyon to farmers and ranchers who used the land for dry-land farming and sheep grazing.
The 1980s Measure O, passed by Redlands’ residents, provided bond money for the City of Redlands to purchase open space land, among other types of land projects. Redlands purchased 39 acres of hills on Smiley Ridge and into the canyon.
As a result of the 1990s Reach 3B flood control project in San Timoteo Canyon, the Environmental Protection Agency provided a significant grant to City of Redlands to purchase land in the area to mitigate for the habitat loss caused by the project. With the grant, City of Redlands purchased another 120 acres of privately-owned land within the boundaries of what is now the sanctuary. According to the EPA grant, the land must remain in permanent conservation, and it must be placed under a conservation easement, now held by Redlands Conservancy.
In 2010, the City of Redlands gave Redlands Conservancy a conservation easement on the entire area of 160+ acres in San Timoteo Canyon between San Timoteo Canyon Road (on the west) and Alessandro Road (on the east), along the north side of San Timoteo Creek. With this easement, Redlands Conservancy is responsible for restoring native habitat, maintaining the passive recreation trails, and protecting the existing native habitat and wildlife.
