A realistic riparian exhibit features a moist stream bank, the illusion of pooled water, water-loving plants including spike rush, giant horsetail, and California polypody fern, animal tracks embedded in mud-stained concrete, other animal sign, and nature sounds (e.g. dripping water, calls of treefrogs). Visitors are challenged to seek out and identify the denizens of Edgewood’s waterways by the “clues” left behind in this exhibit.
A reader railing separates the visitor from the diorama and serves as the mount for an interpretive panel that focuses on the significance of water to Edgewood and identifies the species (but not their location) depicted in the diorama. Replicated casts of various tracks are also mounted on the railing, accessible to touch. Another panel displays photographs of specific aquatic sites at Edgewood—a seep, spring, vernal pool, freshwater marsh, stream, and waterfall.