Sunday, June 12, 2005
TXPTLMS #3: Santa Cruz Giant Redwoods
Top Ten Places That Leave Me Slackjawed
For the Big Trees of California, there are really only three places to go: The Giant Sequoia Groves of the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Redwood groves around Humboldt (North) and Santa Cruz (Central) counties. The Sequoias are more massive (shorter, but greater diameter), and the Humboldt trees are generally taller, but growing up in San Jose, I was first introduced to the Big Trees in Santa Cruz. So I picked those.
There are two sites to see the Santa Cruz Giant Redwoods: Big Basin and Henry Cowell State Parks.
You would think there'd be some decent pictures of the comparative size of these trees on the internet somewhere, but all I can find are those teensy ones on the state parks pages. This page has some 360-degree panoramas. These pages (1 & 2) have some pix, but they fail to do the trees justice. And here are some factoids about the trees.
The best way to see the trees, though, is to take an excursion on the Roaring Camp Narrow-Gauge Railroad. Make a day of it and take the train all the way to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
On the one hand I feel kind of bad not being able to convey the awesome size of these mammoth trees. On the other hand, the left -- or sinister -- one, I laugh at the thought of you seeing these trees for the first time, drool running down your chin as your mouth hangs open. <ha ha ha>
(Writer amigos: These trees are near Mt. Hermon, so plan a side trip next year if you've never seen them before.)
- Yosemite
- Whiskeytown Dam
- Santa Cruz Giant Redwoods
For the Big Trees of California, there are really only three places to go: The Giant Sequoia Groves of the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Redwood groves around Humboldt (North) and Santa Cruz (Central) counties. The Sequoias are more massive (shorter, but greater diameter), and the Humboldt trees are generally taller, but growing up in San Jose, I was first introduced to the Big Trees in Santa Cruz. So I picked those.
There are two sites to see the Santa Cruz Giant Redwoods: Big Basin and Henry Cowell State Parks.
You would think there'd be some decent pictures of the comparative size of these trees on the internet somewhere, but all I can find are those teensy ones on the state parks pages. This page has some 360-degree panoramas. These pages (1 & 2) have some pix, but they fail to do the trees justice. And here are some factoids about the trees.
The best way to see the trees, though, is to take an excursion on the Roaring Camp Narrow-Gauge Railroad. Make a day of it and take the train all the way to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
On the one hand I feel kind of bad not being able to convey the awesome size of these mammoth trees. On the other hand, the left -- or sinister -- one, I laugh at the thought of you seeing these trees for the first time, drool running down your chin as your mouth hangs open. <ha ha ha>
(Writer amigos: These trees are near Mt. Hermon, so plan a side trip next year if you've never seen them before.)
Mikesell
