Big Basin Redwoods State Park

We drove on to Big Basin Redwoods State Park. The park is California's oldest State Park, established in 1902. Home to the largest continuous stand of ancient coast redwoods south of San Francisco, the park consists of over 18,000 acres of old growth and recovering redwood forest, with mixed conifer, oaks, chaparral, and riparian habitats. Elevations in the park vary from sea level to over 2,000 feet. The climate ranges from foggy and damp near the ocean to sunny, warm ridge tops.

We walked along the 6 tenths of a mile Redwoods Trail to get a feel for the park and a quick introduction to the redwoods around us. Photos do not do any justice to the massive size of these trees. Amongst the redwoods are the just as tall Douglas firs. A must not miss is the parks museum, one of the most comprehensive, easy to understand park museums I have ever been to. Most of the taxidermy animals were completed in the 1940s. Keep an eye out for banana slugs!

The cost to park a vehicle is $6 a day, and make sure you pay the fee, they patrol the parking lots looking for fee receipts, otherwise you will receive a citation.

At one point along the trail, I felt something hit my head, turned out to be a piece of redwood about 2 inches long. I picked it up, it is very light and looked exactly like wood from a redwood chair from my home.