San Vicente Redwoods Santa Cruz Mountains Hikes Local News Outdoors Recreation 

San Vicente Redwoods Preserve to Open

By Julie Horner Outdoor enthusiasts eager to explore fresh territory can look forward to setting boots down on 7.3 miles of ecologically integrated trail in the 8,852-acre San Vicente Redwoods Preserve starting on December 3, 2022. This new multi-use trail system traversing sensitive coastal redwood habitat supports hikers, walkers, bicyclists, and equestrians.  San Vicente Redwoods Preserve spans the seaward side… Read More
Big Basin Redwoods State Park Fire Recovery Local News Outdoors 

Big Basin Park Reopens July 22

By Julie Horner Big Basin Redwoods State Park reopens on Friday, July 22, 2022, with limited day-use access by reservation only. The reservation system opens on Friday, July 1, 2022. The Redwood Loop near the former visitor center and approximately 18 miles of fire roads near the park’s core have been cleared for visitor access with limited services available. Highway… Read More
Albino Redwoods Gale McCreary Column: Gale McCreary Environment Outdoors 

Albino Redwoods: The Ghosts of the Forest

Contributors to a Mighty and Interconnected Family By Gale McCreary It is a student, crouched in the shamrock-like oxalis plants on the shady redwood forest floor, who first alerts me to the mutant. With careful steps I approach the young man as he poses, one knee on his flattened blaick backpack, the other raised as a writing table for his… Read More
Connor Michael Bond bee hotels Local News Outdoors Parks 

Abuzz About the Felton Discovery Park: San Lorenzo Valley Native Habitat Restoration Program Busy with Bees

By Julie Horner Earlier this year the Valley Women’s Club engaged AmeriCorps NCCC Team Fire 5 to remove embedded plastic sheeting and invasive growth from under the San Lorenzo Valley Water District Kirby Road substation solar panels that border the Felton Discovery Park adjacent to the new Felton Library. An effort driven by the VWC’s San Lorenzo Valley Native Habitat… Read More
Checker Lily Wildflowers Santa Cruz Mountains Local News Outdoors Recreation 

An Insider’s Guide to Spring Wildflowers at Quail Hollow

By Pamela Morgan April and May always remind me of renewal, birth, and the blooming calla lilies, forget-me-nots, daffodils, and tulips. I become giddy with the first sightings of native wildflowers! I was introduced to coastal wildflowers while hiking with the Santa Cruz and Monterey chapters of the Sierra Club in the mid-80s, gravitating to hikers with an eye for… Read More