In July I went camping with my family to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, near Santa Cruz, CA. This post just has a few of my notes.

If you only have an hour or two – go to the day use and visitor center area off of highway CA-9. There is an easy 1 mile trail through some fantastic redwood trees – the Redwood Grove Loop Trail. It is nice and flat and also wide, which relieves a bit of the stress of being around people during the Sars-Cov-2 pandemic. I thought I knew plenty about Redwood Trees, but I learned quite a bit on this trail from the signs and volunteer docents. For example I didn’t know that the redwood tree root system can outlive a single tree (which itself can live 2,000 years). It will sprout successive rings of trees around the original, which eventually can become a wide and tall area called a Cathedral Grove – resembling in height, width and splendor a large church (cathedral).

Trail Notes:

• Along Highway 9 we stopped at the Rincon Parking Lot (which was pretty full in late afternoon on Wednesday). From there we went down the hill to find the San Lorenzo River for a potential water play spot. We did locate the river after about 15 minutes going down a steep fire road (with some rocks and roots). The river was pretty low (mostly ankle to knee high) but still could have been a fun spot to explore more – along the rocks or more sandy/beachy spots. This was just a recon visit, so we’ll have to go back next time.
• Garden of Eden: a local swimming hole spot, also along Highway 9. We did not visit, but a campsite neighbor went there with her 2 small kids and had a good time. Note there are not any bathrooms or other services (trash cans) there.
• The roads in the camping area are well maintained and low traffic which made it a nice area for riding bikes with kids
• There is an observation deck a short hike from camp which can be good for seeing the sunrise, sunset or stargazing. (see photo below)

Bird notes:

• turkeys with poults (little ones) on the Redwood Grove Loop Trail
• Pileated Woodpecker – large with red head resembling a shock top. Seen in camp.
• red-shouldered hawk – very audible crying from a tall tree (matched using recording from the Merlin Bird ID app; guessing it was a juvenile calling to mom (“I’m hungry!!!”)

This was a new park for us, as one of our regular spots in the area, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, was sadly severely damaged by the CZU Lightning Complex Fire in August 2020.