HENRY COWELL REDWOODS STATE PARK
This park is a major attraction for us here in the Santa Cruz mountains. It is one of the lesser-known in California, so we thought you might like to read our view of it.
The park’s spectacular scenery draws travelers from all around the world. The history here includes the native people who lived in the area before Spanish rule, early entreprenueurs starting in the 1800s., and the later development of tourism. Many dignitaries including General John C. Freemont and Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Benjamin Harrison visited here.
Among the large amount of plant life in the park are the tallest old-growth coast redwoods (up to 280 feet tall) growing along the short Redwood Grove Loop Trail. A photo below is a slice of one of these trees with life rings that show it started growing over 2,000 years ago.
Visitors can enjoy hiking, horseback riding, picnicking, swimming, fishing and wildlife viewing on more than 4,650 acres of forested and open land in the state park. There is a small no-hookup campground here. The Roaring Camp railroad next door runs a Redwood Forest Steam Train up Bear Mountain and a Santa Cruz Beach Train to the famous Boardwalk (only seven miles away).
We’re camped in one of three small private full-hookup RV resorts located just outside of the park near Felton, CA. We’re among second-growth redwood trees that grew up after the original old-growth trees were clear-cut by loggers about 150 years ago. Fortunately, the coastal redwoods refuse to die even when cut completely down. A “daisy-ring” of genetically identical clones sprout from the roots that were left in the ground. A photo below shows our Phoenix Cruiser parked next to one of these rings that contain seven “young” trees.
We hope you will have a chance to visit the area sometime, too.
