Big Basin Redwoods State Park
Last Saturday we visited Big Basin Redwoods State Park. It is California's oldest state park - covering more then 18,000 acres from sea level to more then 2,000 feet elevation - launched the state park movement in California. There are the tallest and oldest trees on Earth. Scientist estimate that these trees may range from 1,000 to 2,000 years old. Also in Big Basin Redwoods State Park has amazing views of the Pacific Ocean, lush waterfalls, more then 80 mies of roads and trails and cultural history have beckoned millions of visitors to Big Basin since 1902.
Humans lived in or near Big Basin for at least 10,000 years before the Spanish explored the area in the late 1700s. The Big Basin area was home to the Cotoni and Quiroste Indians, two of the 50 tribes composing the Ohlone cultural of the San Francisco and Monterey Bays.
Big Basin's coast redwoods, Sequoia sempervirens, are native to the United States, growing only along the coast form southern Oregon to Central California. The name Sequoia may honor Sequoyah, the 19th-century inventor of the Cherokee alphabet, and sempervirens means "ever living". There trees are part of a once-huge ancient remains. The redwood is California's official state tree.
The Santa Cruze redwood forest was first noted in accounts of a Spanish coastal expedition led by Gastar de Pastola in 1769. Less than a century later, logging to meet the demands of the of the gold rush and urban development threatened to deplete the forest. By 1884, the area's 34 million board feet of lumber, shingles, railroad ties and posts annually.
As early as 1852, Californians argued to save the Santa Cruz coast redwoods. Newspaper editor Ralph S. Smith championed the idea of a redwood state park not only for tourism, but also for science. In March 1901, a State bill created California Redwood Park (remained Big Basin Redwoods State Park in 1927).
Humans lived in or near Big Basin for at least 10,000 years before the Spanish explored the area in the late 1700s. The Big Basin area was home to the Cotoni and Quiroste Indians, two of the 50 tribes composing the Ohlone cultural of the San Francisco and Monterey Bays.
Big Basin's coast redwoods, Sequoia sempervirens, are native to the United States, growing only along the coast form southern Oregon to Central California. The name Sequoia may honor Sequoyah, the 19th-century inventor of the Cherokee alphabet, and sempervirens means "ever living". There trees are part of a once-huge ancient remains. The redwood is California's official state tree.
The Santa Cruze redwood forest was first noted in accounts of a Spanish coastal expedition led by Gastar de Pastola in 1769. Less than a century later, logging to meet the demands of the of the gold rush and urban development threatened to deplete the forest. By 1884, the area's 34 million board feet of lumber, shingles, railroad ties and posts annually.
As early as 1852, Californians argued to save the Santa Cruz coast redwoods. Newspaper editor Ralph S. Smith championed the idea of a redwood state park not only for tourism, but also for science. In March 1901, a State bill created California Redwood Park (remained Big Basin Redwoods State Park in 1927).