Santa Cruz Travel Guide 2009 - (Page 20) From the mountains to the Seathrives in Natural beauty State Parks Santa Cruz County is one of the few places where an unbroken trail begins Santa Cruz County’s vast preserves of open space are a tribute to the early in redwood-covered mountains and ends on the rugged, windswept beaches of the Pacific Coast. With a path that winds along majestic old-growth redwoods, graceful waterfalls and gorgeous vistas, hiking the Skyline to the Sea Trail through Big Basin Redwoods State Park is just one of many ways to experience Santa Cruz County’s natural beauty. 20 conservation efforts that began here over a century ago. The first campaign to save the redwoods succeeded in establishing Big Basin Redwoods State Park in 1902, now California’s oldest state park. Today, Santa Cruz County has an extraordinary number of state parks— 17 in all— and each offers a unique experience for visitors. Big Basin Redwoods State Park is home to the largest continuous stand of ancient redwoods south of San Francisco. Big Basin encompasses 18,000 acres of old growth and recovering redwood forest. The 107-year old park offers over 80 miles of trails alongside creeks, waterfalls, and giant trees. Some of the trails link Big Basin to Castle Rock State Park and the eastern reaches of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Along the crest of the mountains, Castle Rock State Park is a forested wilderness of redwoods, Douglas fir and madrone with 32 miles of hiking and horseback riding trails. The park features a number of unusual sandstone outcroppings perfect for rock climbing. In Felton, Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park’s wheelchair and stroller-accessible Redwood Grove Trail circles around the park’s oldest and largest trees. More trails crisscross the San Lorenzo River and its steep, redwood-covered canyons. The park also features a visitor center, a campground, wi-fi internet access, picnic areas and interpretative programs. The trails of nearby Fall Creek State Park are far less traveled. The park’s stillness stands in sharp contrast to the sounds of the early industrial operations that once echoed through the canyons. Today, the trickling waters of Fall Creek welcome hikers as remnants of old logging operations, quarries and limekilns dot the park’s trails. The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Aptos is another tribute to nature’s resilience. This dense, redwood paradise was clear-cut as recently as 1923, but today, towering second growth redwoods populate the hillsides. The 10,000acre park offers miles of trails for walking, running, hiking, horseback riding and mountain biking. Interesting sites include an unusual, twisted grove of redwoods, remnants of an old sawmill, and the epicenter of the devastating 1989 Photo: Paul Schraub/CVC 2 0 0 9 O F F I C I A l S A n TA C R u Z C O u nT y T R AV E l E R ’ S G u I D E
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