BIG BASIN REDWOODS STATE PARK

Jill and Asaf at
BIG BASIN REDWOODS STATE PARK

An Adventure into the Woods in the Santa Cruz Mountains

JULY 4, 2019

Watch out for the serpent behind you!

Here at Big Basin Redwoods State Park are some of the Tallest Redwoods in the USA.

When a tree is almost 375 feet tall it is very difficult to photograph it in one photo. Next time a movie!   Notice  the small openings in the some of the trees.  That is where the Indians sought shelter from inclement weather by hanging deer skins over the opening.

This is the burl that is commonly seen at the base of some coast redwoods.  It a woody material full of unsprouted bud tissue.  If the redwood falls or is damaged, the burl may sprout another redwood tree known as a clone.  Unfortunately this was also a source for coffee tables in the 20th century

when they were cut off and hauled away split and lacquered for home use.

This plaque is dedicated to Andrew P. Hill, a California Painter and photographer best know for saving the Big Basin Redwood trees and preserving it as the first public park in the California Park System.  Although he began his attempts at saving these majestic trees in 1899 many were destroyed by loggers in the 20th  century until the Redwoods became a park in 1922. 

Sandi, Asaf and Jill standing inside one of the largest trees in the redwood forest.