How to hike among the redwood redwoods redwoods

It is a hike of life, death and disaster. However, it is also a walk in the park.

The route in question is the Redwood loop path, which is part of Big Basin's state park in the mountains of Santa Cruz. A turn around the 0.63 mile loop and you will see, in the middle of the wow of discolored fire, what a big difference of four years can make in the natural world.

The Park of State, the oldest in California, is also the largest squoiast stand on the ancient coast south of San Francisco. It was burned at 97% in 2020, when the fire of the Czu lightning complex broke out in the mountains of Santa Cruz. Tens of thousands of trees have been cremated and most of the park remains closed, its infrastructures (including 150 campsites) destroyed.

However, after four years of regrowth, which included drought conditions, followed by the storms of the atmospheric river in 2023, visitors can walk in the middle of countless rising stems, many of which reach 10 to 20 feet high.

“You will see green shoots that stand out from these black trunks throughout the park,” said Will Fourt, specialist in senior parks and leisure for the Santa Cruz district of the state system. Despite the first fears, most of the park's redwoods have survived, said FOURT, noting that they can reproduce not only from their base and their branches, but also their trunks – something that most conifers cannot do.

By an estimate, there are only 3% of the Douglas fir trees of the park.

Among the redwoods, “the new growth that comes from the roots is simply incredible. It was just gray and black here for seven months after the fire, “said Debbie Martwick, assistant to the services of senior visitors. “It's so edifying and inspiring, the resilience of nature.”

The park is gradually reopening since July 2022, and weekends have been busy enough for the Rangers to urge visitors to make parking reservations at least one day in advance (details below). But the day of the week I visited, I only saw a handful of other hikers.

Where to walk in the park

Like most, I entered the main day use area of ​​the state park 9 and 236 near Boulder Creek.

The Soundwood Loop Trail is a flat route that includes some of the largest and oldest trees in the park. You see tiny germs jumping out of fallen trunks, high-headed green shoots that eclipse the charred leftovers and the ancient imposing trees whose branches are again dizzying, despite the black carbonized bark below. If you remain vigilant, you also spot a shielded sequoia standing along the edge of the trail. Unlike everything else, the bark of this tree has a wavy texture which highlights it as a triple offender among fees in fees – a moment of hallucination throughout an inspiration.

This state of state of state of Big Basin in the Big Basin state park has a rare anomaly which left its corrugated or curly absence. It was not linked to the fire that burned 97% of the park in 2020.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Hikers looking for a longer route, said Fourt, can take a picturesque four-thousand loop which includes parts of the Skyline To-Sea Trail, Meteor Trail and Middle Ridge Road, returning by the Dool Trail. Do not forget a sunscreen, added FOURT, because the park is not as shaded as before.

How Big Basin has become the first state park

The Big Basin Redwoods state park was created in 1902, while dozens of wood companies ran to fall so many large trees in the region they could. Local activists bought Six miles square From Redwood Forest, then put pressure on state officials for new measures to protect the area from the logging. Today, this forest is still dominated by the same trees, some of which are over 300 feet and 1,000 years.

But on August 16, 2020, lightning blows hit the complex fire of the Czu, blackening 86,500 acres In and around the park (which covers 18,000 acres). The flames killed a person. Thirty-seven days passed before the firefighters could contain the fire.

Today, out of the 85 miles in the hiking trails, said Fourt, about 6.5 miles are open, with several additional miles that should reopen this winter. Of the 30 miles of Big Basin of fire roads (open to hikers, cyclists and equestrian), about 25 miles are open. It can be years, however, before hikers can travel again the popular Berry Creek Falls Trail and Sequoia Trail.

In the park, the ravages of fire are still there, but fade.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

On the site of the former park's head office (integrated into the style of log cabin by the civil conservation body in 1936), the Steps cement now leads to anything at all. Its campsite should not reopen for several years. A new installation plan is due in 2025.

Before the fire, Martwick said, the park attracted 1 million annual visitors, who have often filled hundreds of parking spaces, many of which are now closed. Now, the park obtains approximately one tenth as many visitors – 3,000 to 9,000 per month – and only about 70 parking spaces at its main entrance.

There are chemical toilets but no drinking water, electricity, cell phone or Wi-Fi. In October, park managers joined the Save The Redwoods League to release a new Forest management strategy Plan that calls to clarify the forest forests in the coming years by increasing the number of controlled burns (which park managers have been doing for decades).

Seeing the park today “can be dramatic for people who remember the park as it was,” admitted Fourt. “But there is still a lot of beauty there.”

For the moment, a visit to the Big Basin makes sense as part of a trip to the Santa Cruz region but not as a centerpiece. Fortunately, there are many other things to do nearby, in particular by visiting the city and the coast of Santa Cruz as well as several state parks and the mountain communities of Scotts Valley, Felton, Ben Lomond, Brookdale and Boulder Creek.

The Big Basin Redwoods state park, which has mainly burned in 2020, has done a lot of regrening in the four years since.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Visitors can also consult Rancho Del Oso, the coastal part of the park which is off Highway 1 in Davenport, about 17 miles north of Santa Cruz. Although Rancho del Oso is currently working just Three short sections of trail (less than one mile each), the area includes Waddell State Beach (one of the best windsurfing spots in North America), a reception center (rebuilt and reopened in 2023), a center of nature and history and six campsites.

If you leave

The Big Basin Redwoods state park is open at 8:30 a.m. at sunset every day. Parking is $ 10 without a reservation$ 8 with one. Weekend visitors are invited to book parking at least one day to come. Summer weekends, there is a bus service from the Cavallaro Transit Center in Scotts Valley, about 45 minutes from the park, and the officials plan Summer overflow parking (with shuttles) in Saddle Mountain, about 10 minutes from the main entrance to the Park Park. Consult the Park website for more details before visiting.

There is no expenses or booking requirements for visitors to Rancho del Oso.

Nearby state parks include New Year of State Park,, Butano State Park (where many areas are still closed), Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park,, Natural bridge beach And Wilder Ranch State Park.

Where to eat

In Ben Lomond, Aroma restaurant Has interior and exterior tables, with a pair of chimneys in the rustic but elegant dining room.

In Scotts Valley, Ripper Brewpub has a lot of bar food, including bourbon burgers and sweet potatoes. Brunch on weekends.

Where to stay

In Santa Cruz, Sea & Sand Inn is held on a cliff above the ocean, next to the more expensive price Dream Inn. Prices often start about $ 150 on weekdays, $ 280 on weekends.

In Santa Cruz, Inn & Suites mission is an affordable option on Mission Avenue, about three kilometers from the UC Santa Cruz campus. Prices during the week often decrease under $ 100.