Stay Informed on the Blog
NEWS & UDATES
Stay connected with what is happening at Mountain Parks Foundation and inside Henry Cowell and Big Basin Redwoods State Parks. From press coverage to stories from the field to upcoming events, this is where you will find us.
Big Basin Redwoods State Park Reopens July 22 with Reservation-Only Day-Use Access
Limited public access to the fire-scarred park returns almost two years after CZU Fire
Rebuilding an Iconic California State Park With Birds and Wildfire In Mind
In 2020, a blaze consumed Big Basin Redwoods State Park, incinerating cabins, blackening ancient trees, and imperiling endangered murrelets. Staff now want to reimagine the park to better ensure the seabird’s future.
By Sarah Gilman
Reporter, Audubon Magazine
Summer 2022
Santa Cruz County mountains ranked on New York Times places to travel in 2022
The New York Times published a travel article where they list the 52 places across the globe where travelers can be "part of the solution" and Santa Cruz County made the list.
Update: Limited Reopening
Rancho del Oso Nature and History Center will be open Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. beginning Memorial Day Weekend, May 29 and 30.
Signs of Renewal
More than eight months after the CZU Lightning Complex Fire swept through Big Basin, signs of renewal can be seen.
Exclusive: Race to protect Big Basin’s Mother, Father of the Forest, other ancient redwood trees after inferno
BIG BASIN — The Douglas fir came crashing down just a couple dozen feet from the famous “Mother of the Forest” tree Friday, and the impact shook the earth, blowing another smoldering hot spot into live flames. The fire-damaged fir was taken down with chainsaws in a controlled fall, to prevent it from toppling on its own and damaging one of the old-growth giants still standing a stone’s throw away…
The forest fire that saved the redwoods
History
Ambrose Bierce was a close friend of Josephine Clifford McCrackin, both popular writers and journalists. Bierce came to visit her Loma Prieta home on the weekend of Oct. 7 and 8,1899, bringing his 23-year-old protegee, poet Herman Scheffauer. They stayed at Hotel Bohemia, in the hamlet of Burrell, on Loma Prieta Avenue and Summit Road.
Santa Cruz Sentinel
By ROSS ERIC GIBSON