Big Basin reopening; reservation required
The famous forests of Big Basin Redwoods State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains will partially reopen to the public next month, allowing visitors to see some of the world’s tallest trees for the first time since the park was ravaged by wildfire two years ago.
California state parks officials said in May that they had done enough post-fire rehabilitation to begin welcoming people back this summer, but just Thursday did they announce an opening date of July 22. Because much of the park remains strewn with charred, wobbly trees and services are limited, only small numbers of visitors will be granted entry through a newly established day-use reservation system.
The CZU Lightning Complex fires, which began in August 2020, burned 97% of the popular park. The historic village — with its visitor center, museum and dozens of rustic buildings — was completely destroyed. The park is the oldest in the state system, established in 1902 near the small town of Boulder Creek.
The area that will open for visits is the main grove of ancient redwoods that formerly served as the park headquarters. Highway 236, which runs through the park and has been inaccessible for the 5½ miles that wind through Big Basin, will also fully reopen July 22.
Visitors will have access to about 20 miles of fire roads and trail, including the famous Redwood Loop and Dool Trail. A temporary kiosk to provide information and primitive restrooms will be set up. The coastal section of Big Basin,
near the town of Davenport, reopened last year and does not require a reservation.
While the damage to park infrastructure was extensive and vast stands of Douglas fir and tan oak were razed, more than 90% of the park’s mature redwood trees are estimated to have survived the blaze, including the roughly 30 named trees at the park’s core.
“People will be surprised by what they see,” said Chris Spohrer, state parks superintendent in the Santa Cruz area.
“There will be a lot of sadness around some of the built features that were lost, but there will be optimism about the recovery of the forest.”
Already, new plants, including colorful displays of wildflowers, have emerged on the forest floor where sunlight now shines in areas that, before the wildfire, were left dark by the thick canopy of trees.
The new reservation system will begin taking bookings July 1. Initially, just 45 reservations will be taken per day, coinciding with the number of allotted parking spots at the park. State parks officials say they will expand the number of reservations available as the post-fire recovery work continues.
People traveling to the park by bicycle or bus will not need a reservation. The Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District plans to provide three bus trips to the park daily on weekends, according to state parks officials.
The park department remains in the early stages of planning for a complete rebuild of Big Basin’s visitor facilities. Instead of reconstructing services at the heart of the park, where they could pose a problem for the oldgrowth trees, parks officials are planning to site the headquarters about 3 miles to the east in an area known as Saddle Mountain.