Big Basin Redwoods State Park
Encyclopedia
Big Basin Redwoods State Park is a state park
State park
State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the federated state level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational...

 in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, located in Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz County, California
Santa Cruz County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, on the California Central Coast. The county forms the northern coast of the Monterey Bay. . As of the 2010 U.S. Census, its population was 262,382. The county seat is Santa Cruz...

, about 36 km (22.4 mi) northwest of Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...

. The park contains almost all of the Waddell Creek
Waddell Creek
Waddell Creek is the name given to both the creek and the watershed that run through Big Basin Redwoods State Park in Santa Cruz County, California...

 watershed
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

, which was formed by the seismic uplift
Seismology
Seismology is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other planet-like bodies. The field also includes studies of earthquake effects, such as tsunamis as well as diverse seismic sources such as volcanic, tectonic, oceanic,...

 of its rim, and the erosion of its center by the many streams in its bowl-shaped depression.

Big Basin is California's oldest State Park
State park
State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the federated state level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational...

, established in 1902. Its original 3800 acres (15.4 km²) have been increased over the years to over 18000 acres (72.8 km²). It is part of the Northern California coastal forests
Northern California coastal forests
The Northern California coastal forests are a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of coastal Northern California, USA.-Setting:The ecoregion lies close to the Pacific Ocean, and is kept moist by Pacific Ocean storms during the winter months, and by coastal fogs in the summer months...

 ecoregion and is home to the largest continuous stand of ancient Coast Redwoods south of San Francisco. It contains 10800 acres (43.7 km²) of old-growth forest as well as recovering redwood forest, with mixed conifer, oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

s, chaparral
Chaparral
Chaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico...

 and riparian habitat
Habitat (ecology)
A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism...

s. Elevations in the park vary from sea level to over 600 m (2,000 ft). The climate ranges from foggy and damp near the ocean to sunny, warm ridge tops.
The park has over 130 km (80.8 mi) of trails. Some of these trails link Big Basin to Castle Rock State Park
Castle Rock State Park (California)
Castle Rock State Park is a state park of California, USA, located along the crest of the Santa Cruz Mountains. It embraces coast redwood, Douglas fir, and madrone forest, most of which has been left in its wild, natural state. Steep canyons are sprinkled with unusual rock formations that is a...

 and the eastern reaches of the Santa Cruz range
Santa Cruz Mountains
The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central California, United States. They form a ridge along the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco, separating the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco Bay and the Santa Clara Valley, and continuing south,...

. The Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail
Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail
The Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail is a 29.5-mile hiking trail that descends from the ridge of the Santa Cruz Mountains in Northern California to the Pacific Ocean, passing through Castle Rock State Park and Big Basin Redwoods State Park. Big Basin is California's first state park...

 threads its way through the park along Waddell Creek to Waddell Beach and the adjacent Theodore J. Hoover Natural Preserve
Theodore J. Hoover Natural Preserve
Theodore J. Hoover Natural Preserve, which includes Waddell Marsh, is located at the mouth of Waddell Creek, a coastal freshwater marsh that is one of the rarest habitats on the Central Coast of California...

, a freshwater marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....

.

The park has a large number of waterfall
Waterfall
A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...

s, a wide variety of environments (from lush canyon bottoms to sparse chaparral-covered slopes, many animals (deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...

, raccoon
Raccoon
Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...

s, an occasional bobcat
Bobcat
The bobcat is a North American mammal of the cat family Felidae, appearing during the Irvingtonian stage of around 1.8 million years ago . With twelve recognized subspecies, it ranges from southern Canada to northern Mexico, including most of the continental United States...

) and abundant bird life – including Steller's Jay
Steller's Jay
The Steller's Jay is a jay native to western North America, closely related to the Blue Jay found in the rest of the continent, but with a black head and upper body. It is also known as the Long-crested Jay, Mountain Jay, and Pine Jay...

s, egret
Egret
An egret is any of several herons, most of which are white or buff, and several of which develop fine plumes during the breeding season. Many egrets are members of the genera Egretta or Ardea which contain other species named as herons rather than egrets...

s, heron
Heron
The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae. There are 64 recognised species in this family. Some are called "egrets" or "bitterns" instead of "heron"....

s and Acorn Woodpecker
Acorn Woodpecker
The Acorn woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker, 21 cm long with an average weight of 85 g.-Description:...

s.

History of the basin

Contrary to popular belief that prehistoric people did not inhabit the old growth forests, archaeological evidence has been found, although sporadically, within the Park. Numerous resources would have been available to California Indians in the old growth forests, such as basketry material, plant foods like acorns and bulbs as well as animal prey for hunters and perhaps unknown traditional sacred places. Ohlone tribes that lived on watercoures which begin in Big Basin Redwoods State Park were the Quiroste, Achistaca, Cotoni and Sayante.(Milliken, Randall A Time of Little Choice: The Disintegration of Tribal Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area 1769-1810. A Ballena Press Publication 1996, Novato, Ca).

In October of 1769 the Portola expedition
Portola expedition
250px|right|Point of San Francisco Bay DiscoveryThe Portolá Expedition was led by Gaspar de Portolá from July 14, 1769 to January 24, 1770. It was the first recorded Spanish land entry and exploration of present day California, United States...

 'discovered' the redwoods of southern Santa Cruz County, and camped at the mouth of Waddell Creek, in present-day Big Basin, later that month. Although many in the party had been ill with scurvy
Scurvy
Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...

, they gorged themselves on berries
Berry
The botanical definition of a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary. Grapes are an example. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. They may have one or more carpels with a thin covering and fleshy interiors....

 and quickly recovered. This miraculous recovery, as it seemed at the time, inspired the name given to the valley: 'Cañada de la Salud' or Canyon of Health.

The Redwood forested country of Big Basin served as a refuge for Ohlone Indians early during the Spanish occupation of the area: “The first active resistance to Spanish power in the Bay Area was led by Charquin, a leader of the Quiroste in the area of Point Ano Nuevo, down the coast from San Francisco. Although he did not fight Spanish soldiers until early 1793, Charquin had harbored fugitive neophytes since November of 1791. Charquin and his followers retreated into the rugged country behind Point Ano Nuevo in late 1791, lands that were equidistant from the missions San Francisco, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz. From there he invited dissatisfied neophytes to join him. On January 6, 1793, Mission San Francisco servant Diego Olbera baptized a 22-year-old woman on the verge of death ‘at the Quiroste village in the Mountains’ (SFR-B 1165). Olbera was probably in the vicinity to convince Charquin and his followers to return to the Mission. Instead relations degenerated further. During the eighteen years that the Spanish military had been present among tribes of the Bay Area, its leaders had tried to avoid direct confrontation that might result in losses and a resultant weakening of its authority. But the success of Charquin goaded the soldiers into action. No diary services stemming from any successful expedition against Charquin, yet indirect evidence exist that one did take place, and that it occurred in late April and early May of 1793. An entry in the Mission San Francisco Libro de Difuntos on May 3, 1793 recorded the death of two children of runaway families in the mountain Quiroste Village of Chipletac (SFR-D 541,542). Charquin seems to have been captured at that time. Quiroste resistance did not end with the capture of Charquin in the spring of 1793. On December 14, 1793, Quirostes took part in a direct attack on Mission Santa Cruz, the only attack on a Mission north of Monterey ever reported during the entire Spanish era. The attack on Mission Santa Cruz was a continuation of the ongoing history of the Charquin resistance. Clues suggest that the Quiroste anger resulted from mission penetration into traditional family control of Marriage.(Milliken)

Others seeking safety in the redwoods of Big Basin were the Franciscan fathers themselves. In 1818 the Monterey Bay was visited by the Argentine Pirate Hipólito Bouchard. The Padres at Mission Santa Cruz, fearing the ransacking of Bouchard and his fellow corsairs, took the Missions most valued possessions and fled to the interior mountains. The Mission was ransacked, not by the Pirate Bouchard, but by unruly citizens of neighboring Branciforte. (Verado, Denzil "A History of Big Basin State Park" 1975. unpublished)

By the late 19th century, redwood forests were gaining international appreciation. Early conservationists, including such notables as Andrew P. Hill
Andrew P. Hill
Andrew Putnam Hill was an early Californian painter and photographer best known for successfully leading an effort from 1899 to 1902 to save a forest of large redwoods in Big Basin, California and as a result, creating the California State Park System.-Big Basin:The trees, Sequoia Sempervirens,...

, Father Robert Kenna, John J. Montgomery
John J. Montgomery
John Joseph Montgomery was an aviation pioneer, inventor, professor at Santa Clara College.On August 28, 1883 he made the first manned, controlled, heavier-than-air flights of the United States, in the Otay Mesa area of San Diego, California...

, Carrie Stevens Walter and Josephine Clifford McCracken
Josephine Clifford McCracken
Josephine Clifford McCracken was a California writer and journalist, a contemporary of Bret Harte, John Muir, Ina Coolbrith, and Joaquin Miller, and an environmentalist.-Early history:...

, led the movement to create a park to preserve the mighty redwoods. On May 19, 1900, the Sempervirens Club
Sempervirens Club
Sempervirens Fund, originally established in 1900 as Sempervirens Club, is California's oldest land conservation organization. Founder Andrew P. Hill's goal was to preserve the old-growth forest that became Big Basin Redwoods State Park, the first California state park in 1902...

 was formed at the base of Slippery Rock, within the present day park. In 1902, the California Redwood Park was created in Big Basin on 3800 acres (15.4 km²), most of it old growth forest.

In the following decades, visitation to Big Basin grew steadily as park amenities were developed. The Big Basin Inn offered cabins to rent, a restaurant, general store, barber shop, gas station and photographic studio. There were also a post office, a concrete swimming pool, boating areas, tennis courts and a dance floor. Campsites cost 50 cents a night in 1927 and many families stayed all summer. During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 of the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...

 assigned a company to Big Basin. These men built the amphitheater, miles of trails, and many of the buildings still used today.

Flora

Although redwoods dominate the landscape, many other plant species are common in Big Basin. One will certainly see Coast Douglas-fir, tan oak, Pacific madrone, Pacific Wax Myrtle
Myrica californica
Myrica californica Myrica californica Myrica californica (California Bayberry, California Wax Myrtle or Pacific Wax Myrtle; syn. Gale californica (Cham. & Schltdl.) Greene, Morella californica (Cham...

, trees in the park. Competing for sunshine are also many shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

s such as Red Huckleberries
Vaccinium parvifolium
Red Huckleberry is a species of Vaccinium native to the western North America, where it is common in forests from southeastern Alaska and British Columbia south through western Washington and Oregon to central California. In the Oregon Coast Range, it is the most common Vaccinium...

, western azalea
Rhododendron occidentale
Rhododendron occidentale, the Western Azalea, is one of two deciduous Rhododendron species native to western North America . The Western Azalea is known to occur as far north as Bandon, Oregon. It is found as far south as the Palomar Mountain area in southern California...

, and many varieties of fern
Fern
A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...

s. Spring and summer bring the wildflower
Wildflower
A wildflower is a flower that grows wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. Yet "wildflower" meadows of a few mixed species are sold in seed packets. The term "wildflower" has been made vague by commercial seedsmen who are interested in selling more flowers or seeds more...

s: redwood sorrel, salal, redwood violets
Viola sempervirens
Viola sempervirens , known by the common names Redwood Violet and Evergreen Violet, is a species in the genus Viola. It is native to the West Coast of the United States and British Columbia, Canada....

, trillium
Trillium ovatum
Trillium ovatum, the Western Wake Robin, Pacific Trillium, or Western White Trillium, is a member of the Trilliaceae family, or sometimes included within the Liliaceae or Melanthiaceae. It occurs in parts of the western United States and western Canada, usually in rich forest...

, star lily and mountain iris
Iris missouriensis
Iris missouriensis is a species of iris found in western North America. Its distribution is varied; it grows at high elevations in mountains and alpine meadows and all the way down to sea level in coastal hills. Its common names include western blue flag and Rocky Mountain iris...

. The rains of fall and winter deliver hundreds of kinds of fungi
Fungus
A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...

 in a startling variety of shapes, sizes and colors.

Upon climbing to higher elevations, one will find the forest growing thinner, as redwoods are replaced by more drought-tolerant species. The higher, drier ridges and slopes of Big Basin are typically full of chaparral
Chaparral
Chaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico...

 vegetation: Knobcone Pine
Knobcone Pine
The Knobcone Pine, Pinus attenuata, is a tree that grows in mild climates on poor soils. It ranges from the mountains of southern Oregon to Baja California with the greatest concentration in northern California and the Oregon-California border....

s, chinquapin
Chrysolepis
Chrysolepis is a small genus in the beech family Fagaceae, endemic to the western United States. Its two species have the common name chinquapin...

 and buckeye
Aesculus californica
Aesculus californica is a species of buckeye that is native [ |] to California and southwest Oregon [Jackson, County], and the only buckeye native to these states.-Description:...

 create the canopy, with ceanothus
Ceanothus
Ceanothus L. is a genus of about 50–60 species of shrubs or small trees in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. The genus is confined to North America, the center of its distribution in California, with some species in the eastern United States and southeast Canada, and others extending as far south...

, manzanita
Manzanita
Manzanita is a common name for many species of the genus Arctostaphylos. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees present in the chaparral biome of western North America, where they occur from southern British Columbia, Washington to California, Arizona and New Mexico in the United States, and...

, chamise
Adenostoma fasciculatum
Adenostoma fasciculatum is a flowering plant native to California and northern Baja California. This shrub is one of the most widespread plants of the chaparral biome.-Description:...

, and chaparral pea
Pickeringia montana
Pickeringia is a monotypic genus containing only the legume Pickeringia montana, which is known by the common name chaparral pea. It is sometimes called Montana chaparral pea, but this plant is endemic-found only in California....

 growing dense and low. Adding a splash of color are wildflowers such as Indian paintbrush
Indian Paintbrush
Indian Paintbrush most often refers to:* Castilleja spp.Indian Paintbrush may also refer to:* Butterfly weed* Hawkweed* Steven Rales' production company, whose productions include The Darjeeling Limited, Towelhead and Fantastic Mr. Fox...

, monkey flower, bush poppies
Dendromecon rigida
Dendromecon rigida, also called bush poppy or tree poppy, is a shrub or small tree of the Papaveraceae native to California and Baja California.-Description:...

 and yerba santa
Eriodictyon californicum
Eriodictyon californicum is a species of plant within the Hydrophyllaceae family. It is also known as Yerba Santa, Mountain Balm, Consumptive's Weed and Bear Weed.-Distribution:...

.

Near the mouth of Waddell Creek is the Theodore J. Hoover Natural Preserve
Theodore J. Hoover Natural Preserve
Theodore J. Hoover Natural Preserve, which includes Waddell Marsh, is located at the mouth of Waddell Creek, a coastal freshwater marsh that is one of the rarest habitats on the Central Coast of California...

, a freshwater marsh that is rare because it has been relatively undisturbed. This special place provides habitat for a wide variety of bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

s, reptile
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...

s and amphibian
Amphibian
Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...

s. The nearby Rancho Del Oso Nature and History Center
Rancho Del Oso Nature and History Center
Rancho Del Oso Nature and History Center interprets the cultural and natural history of the area of Rancho del Oso -- ranch of the bear -- which became part of California's Big Basin Redwoods State Park, in the 1970s. The center is located on Highway 1 16 miles north of Santa Cruz,...

 interprets the cultural and natural history of the area.

Fauna

A wide variety of animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...

s live within Big Basin, many of which can be seen by visitors.

Amongst mammals, California Black Bear
American black bear
The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...

, Black-tailed Deer
Black-tailed Deer
Two forms of black-tailed deer or blacktail deer occupying coastal temperate rainforest on North America's Pacific coast are subspecies of the mule deer. They have sometimes been treated as a species, but virtually all recent authorities maintain they are subspecies...

, Western Gray Squirrel
Western Gray Squirrel
The Western Gray Squirrel is an arboreal rodent found along the western coast of the United States and Canada.In some places, this species has also been known as the Silver-gray Squirrel, the California Gray Squirrel, the Oregon Gray Squirrel, the Columbian Gray Squirrel and the Banner-tail...

s, chipmunk
Chipmunk
Chipmunks are small striped squirrels native to North America and Asia. They are usually classed either as a single genus with three subgenera, or as three genera.-Etymology and taxonomy:...

s and raccoon
Raccoon
Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...

s are common, but fox
Fox
Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...

es, coyote
Coyote
The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...

s, bobcat
Bobcat
The bobcat is a North American mammal of the cat family Felidae, appearing during the Irvingtonian stage of around 1.8 million years ago . With twelve recognized subspecies, it ranges from southern Canada to northern Mexico, including most of the continental United States...

s, and opossums are also present. Cougars are known to live in the park but are extremely rare. Grizzly bear
Grizzly Bear
The grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America...

s are extinct in California, but were numerous in the past. The last known human to die in California due to a Grizzly attack in the wild occurred in Big Basin when, in 1875, William Waddell, a lumber mill owner, was killed near Waddell Creek.

Bird life is abundant throughout the park. Steller's Jay
Steller's Jay
The Steller's Jay is a jay native to western North America, closely related to the Blue Jay found in the rest of the continent, but with a black head and upper body. It is also known as the Long-crested Jay, Mountain Jay, and Pine Jay...

s and Acorn Woodpecker
Acorn Woodpecker
The Acorn woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker, 21 cm long with an average weight of 85 g.-Description:...

s are both seen and heard, and the Dark-eyed Junco
Dark-eyed Junco
The Dark-eyed Junco is the best-known species of the juncos, a genus of small grayish American sparrows. This bird is common across much of temperate North America and in summer ranges far into the Arctic...

 is widespread. Less obvious are the Brown Creeper
Brown Creeper
-Description:Adults are brown on the upperparts with light spotting, resembling a piece of tree bark, with white underparts. They have a long thin bill with a slight downward curve and a long tail. The male creeper has a slightly larger bill than the female...

, Anna's Hummingbird
Anna's Hummingbird
Anna's Hummingbird is a medium-sized hummingbird native to the west coast of North America. This bird was named after Anna Masséna, Duchess of Rivoli.-Description:...

, Northern Flicker
Northern Flicker
The Northern Flicker is a medium-sized member of the woodpecker family. It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and is one of the few woodpecker species that migrate. There are over 100 common names for the Northern Flicker...

, Olive-sided Flycatcher
Olive-sided Flycatcher
The Olive-sided Flycatcher, Contopus cooperi, is a passerine bird. It is a medium-sized tyrant flycatcher.- Description :Adults are dark olive on the face, upperparts and flanks. They have light underparts, a large dark bill and a short tail....

 and Sharp-shinned Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk
The Sharp-shinned Hawk is a small hawk. In fact, "sharp-shins" or "sharpies" are the smallest to reside in USA and Canada, though some Neotropical species are smaller...

. The first Marbled Murrelet
Marbled Murrelet
The Marbled Murrelet is a small seabird from the North Pacific. It is a member of the auk family. It nests in old-growth forests or on the ground at higher latitudes where trees cannot grow...

 nest ever sighted was located in Big Basin not far from the park headquarters. These robin-sized seabird
Seabird
Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...

s nest high in the oldest Coast Douglas-fir and redwoods to feed their young. They can be seen or heard at dawn and dusk, high above the forest canopy.

Many reptile
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...

s are also present, but aside from the ubiquitous Coast Range subspecies of the Western Fence Lizard
Western fence lizard
The western fence lizard is a common lizard of California and the surrounding area. Because the ventral abdomen of an adult is characteristically blue, it is also known as the blue-belly...

 (Sceloporus occidentalis bocourtii), most are rarely seen due to their shy behavior. The only dangerous reptile in the park is the Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus
Crotalus oreganus
Crotalus oreganus is a venomous pitviper species found in North America in the western United States, parts of British Columbia and northwestern Mexico. Seven subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here....

), found almost exclusively in the high, dry chaparral.

The damp, shady woodland floor is home to a variety of amphibian
Amphibian
Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...

s. Commonly seen species include the California Newt
California Newt
The California newt is a newt. It is also referred to as the orange bellied newt. They can grow to be in length.- Physical description :T. torosa adult length can range from to...

 (Taricha torosa torosa), Pacific Tree Frog
Pacific Tree Frog
The Pacific Tree Frog has a range from the West Coast of the United States to British Columbia, in Canada. They live from sea level to more than 10,000 feet in many types of habitats, reproducing in aquatic settings. They are the only frogs that go "ribbit"...

 (Pseudacris regilla), and Arboreal Salamander (Aneides lugubris). Less commonly seen are the Black Salamander
Black Salamander
The Black Salamander is a species of salamander in the Plethodontidae family.It is endemic to the United States.Its natural habitats are temperate forests and temperate grassland.It is threatened by habitat loss....

 (Aneides flavipunctatus) and California Giant Salamander
California Giant Salamander
The California Giant Salamander is a species of salamander in the Dicamptodontidae family.It is endemic to the United States. The species name once additionally included individuals now belonging to the species D. aterrimus and D...

 (Dicamptodon ensatus) and the threatened California Red-legged Frog
California Red-legged Frog
The California red-legged frog, Rana draytonii, is a moderate to large species of frog. It is known under the scientific name Rana draytonii, after being long included with the northern red-legged frog The California red-legged frog, Rana draytonii, is a moderate to large (4.4–14 cm) species...

 (Rana draytonii). Particularly intriguing are banana slug
Banana slug
Banana slug is a common name for three species of air-breathing land slug in the genus Ariolimax. These slugs are often yellow in color and are sometimes spotted with brown like a ripe banana....

s (Ariolimax spp.), which can reach 6 inches long.

California Sister
California Sister Butterfly
The California Sister , sometimes placed in the genus Limenitis), is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. The butterfly is named for its black and white markings on the forewing that resemble a nun's habit...

s (Adelpha bredowii) are prominent butterfly denizens, fluttering high in the canopies above the trails.

Accessibility

Big Basin can be approached from the east, through redwood forest and coastal mountains, or from the coast, along State Route 1. The eastern route, over State Route 9
California State Route 9
State Route 9 is mainly a rural and mountainous route in the U.S. state of California that travels 35 miles from SR 1 near Santa Cruz to SR 17 in Los Gatos, passing through the San Lorenzo Valley and the Saratoga Gap...

 through Saratoga
Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, also known as simply Saratoga, is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American name, ...

 and smaller towns like Boulder Creek
Boulder Creek
Boulder Creek may be:*A community:**Boulder Creek, California*One of several streams:**Boulder Creek in Santa Cruz County**Boulder Creek in San Diego County**Boulder Creek **Boulder Creek...

 is more popular because of the famous trees. This route passes Castle Rock State Park (California)
Castle Rock State Park (California)
Castle Rock State Park is a state park of California, USA, located along the crest of the Santa Cruz Mountains. It embraces coast redwood, Douglas fir, and madrone forest, most of which has been left in its wild, natural state. Steep canyons are sprinkled with unusual rock formations that is a...

 on the eastern side of the Santa Cruz range.

From SR 1, Gazos Creek road offers a pleasant fire-road route for mountain bikes (road closed to motor vehicles), which can then descend into the headquarters area or turn off on Johansen fire road to join China Grade above its intersection with State Route 236
California State Route 236
State Route 236 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It is a short 18-mile "C" shaped highway that links to State Route 9 at both ends in the Santa Cruz Mountains. 236 links Route 9 with Governor's Camp in Big Basin State Park near the Waterman Gap.Route 236 begins in the town of...

.

The park is about an hour and a half south of San Francisco, or five hours north of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

.

See also

  • List of California state parks
  • Santa Cruz Mountains
    Santa Cruz Mountains
    The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central California, United States. They form a ridge along the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco, separating the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco Bay and the Santa Clara Valley, and continuing south,...

  • Pacific Coast Highway (US)
  • Castle Rock State Park (California)
    Castle Rock State Park (California)
    Castle Rock State Park is a state park of California, USA, located along the crest of the Santa Cruz Mountains. It embraces coast redwood, Douglas fir, and madrone forest, most of which has been left in its wild, natural state. Steep canyons are sprinkled with unusual rock formations that is a...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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