Sequoias and Redwoods
Often referred to interchangeably, these are two very different, though equally remarkable, species of tree. Both naturally occurring only in California, these two species share a distinctive cinnamon-colored bark and the proclivity for growing to overwhelming heights.
Our Adventures on the Road here in Northern California have brought us opportunities to see groves of both of these awesome trees! In our last blog post I shared about the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias in Yosemite. This week we saw more of these awe inspiring redwood trees in Santa Cruz and in Big Tree State Park.
Redwoods
Coast Redwood
HEIGHT more than 370 feet
WIDTH up to 29 feet
WATER SOURCE fog and rain
AGE over 2,500 years old
REPRODUCTION can grow from seeds and
sprout from stumps
FOREST FOOTPRINT 1.6 million acres
The redwoods (officially, sequoia sempervirens) towered over us in our camping spot in Santa Cruz Redwoods RV Park.
A beautiful stream ran beside the park. The location of the park was central to visit Santa Cruz, the beach, as well as the State Park and Roaring Camp train ride.
Our friends, the Silvester were here 
for their annual camping trip with their four kids and six grandkids.
The family lived near us and attended church with us when the four children were growing up so it’s fun to reconnect with them as adults and parents!
Roaring Camp Narrow Gauge RR
Travel over trestles, through towering redwood groves and up a winding narrow-gauge grade to the summit of Bear Mountain as conductors narrate the history of Roaring Camp, the railroad and the forest. In the 1880s, narrow-gauge steam locomotives were used to haul giant redwood logs out of the mountains. Roaring Camp’s steam engines date from 1890 and are among the oldest and most authentically preserved narrow-gauge steam engines providing regularly scheduled passenger service in America.
Today the locomotive hauls passengers to see this special parcel of land where redwoods are protected instead of logged for lumber. This was an adventure we enjoyed on our honeymoon and again in the summer of 2019. It was fun to take the trip once again with our friends!
An arsonist set this section of trestle ablaze, now the train has to cross several switch tracks, going forward and then backward to cover the ground once traveled on this looping trestle track.
Henry Cowell Redwood State Park
Located in the Santa Cruz Mountains this State Park is most famous for the 40-acre grove of towering old-growth redwood trees. These skyscraping redwoods were admired by explorer John C. Frémont, President Theodore Roosevelt, and inspired some of California’s earliest redwood preservation efforts. The tallest tree in the park is approximately 277 feet tall, about 16 feet wide, and around 1,500 years old. The forests of the Santa Cruz area are also habitat for the strange Banana Slug!
We enjoyed a group hike along the Redwood Groves Loop Trail. From vantage points along the river we could look across to our campground!
While in Santa Cruz we also enjoyed lots of Ice Cream trips, the Seymour Marine Discovery Center, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, and a walk along West Cliff Drive, where we enjoyed watching the waves, the surfers and lots of pelicans.
After our week of visiting with our long time friends, the Silvester family we headed east, to stay two nights once again at Glory Hole Campground. From here we could take a short trip to visit Calaveras Big Tree State Park.
Sequoias
Giant Sequoia
HEIGHT more than 300 feet
WIDTH over 30 ft
WATER SOURCE snow and rain
VOLUME more than 640 tons
(equal to ~107 elephants)
AGE
REPRODUCTION
over 3,000 years old depend on fire
for new trees to grow
FOREST FOOTPRINT
48,000 acres which grow in 75 distinct groves
Established in 1931, Calaveras Big Trees State Park preserves two groves of giant sequoias - the world's largest trees - in the North and South Groves.. Trails throughout the park allow you to discover the natural beauty that has awed visitors to the area since 1852.
Sequoiadendron giganteum, also known as the giant sequoia, is the sole living species in the genus Sequoiadendron, and one of three species of coniferous trees known as redwoods. The life expectancy of these massive trees is 3,000 years!
A self-guided interpretive hike along the North Grove loop trail brought us up close to many of the largest and most significant sequoias out of the hundred that are in the North Grove. We learned a bit about each tree and about the conservation efforts that established this amazing park for us to enjoy!
The Big Stump or the Discovery Tree.
In 1853, the tree was cut down and stripped of its bark, so it could be transported and put on exhibition. A very sad fate for this magnificent tree, but publicity in the east eventually ed to the preservation of these groves of Sequoia trees.
Empire State
"This tree is supposed to be the largest tree in volume in the North Grove of Calaveras. The North Grove did have much larger trees before but they were all cut down (Discovery tree, Mother and Father of the Forest, etc.). Pristine Calaveras South Grove shelters several larger trees than this one."
Mother of the Forest-Nature's Sorrow
"Skinning this tree alive is as sensible a scheme as skinning our great men would be to prove their greatness."
-John Muir
THE TREE THAT STANDS BEFORE YOU is a symbol of greed and thoughtlessness. In 1854 the "Mother of the Forest" -so named for her beauty and size - was stripped of her bark.
Promoters schemed to ship the bark strips back east for reassembly at exhibitions in New York City and London:
Once there, the tree's outer trunk was displayed to the fascination of paying crowds that numbered in the thousands.
Big Tree State Park is a mixed-conifer forest (a variety of trees living together). We saw Incense Cedar, Sugar Pine, Ponderosa Pine and White Fir among the sequoias, each with unique bark, cones, needles and growth patterns.
Sugar Pine Cone
Beautiful bright green leaves and some blossoms were on the Dogwoods throughout the grove. Our God is so amazing in all that He has created for us to enjoy!
Genesis 1:11-12
11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
We have been awed by these giant trees that God created and placed here, as we have hiked in the forests below them! Check back later for our Adventures on the Road as we travel on to South Lake Tahoe!
