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Big Basin Celebrates 100 Days for 100 YearsCalifornia's Oldest State Park Turns 100 Years Old
This summer, the park will celebrate its 100th anniversary with 100 days of festivities. The park invites the public to join in the celebration and visit the trees that inspired the planet's first coastal redwood conservation movement. Beginning June 8, 2002, the 100-day celebration will include interpretive hikes, campfire programs, weekend musical and theatrical performances and centennial exhibits. Throughout the summer, visitors to the park can also contribute photographs, drawings and stories of their adventures in Big Basin towards the construction of a living history exhibit entitled the "Memory Wall."
Additional exhibits commemorating Big Basin's centennial will be on display at museums and galleries around the county, including the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, San Lorenzo Valley Museum and the Santa Cruz Art League. A speaker's series will also be held in conjunction with the centennial at various venues in Santa Cruz. Big Basin Redwoods State Park is California's oldest state park, and is home to the largest continuous stand of ancient redwoods south of San Francisco. Park visitors can enjoy over 80 miles of hiking trails that meander alongside majestic old-growth redwoods, graceful waterfalls and gorgeous vistas. One of the most popular trails is the Skyline to the Sea Trail, which is an unbroken trail winding from the redwood-covered mountains to the rugged, windswept beaches of the Pacific Coast. Family and group camping, tent cabins, backpack camps, hiking, mountain biking and equestrian trails are available year round. Big Basin Redwoods State Park owes its preservation to the unyielding efforts of Andrew P. Hill and the Sempervirens Club. Hill, a photographer, emerged to the forefront of the redwood conversation movement in 1900 after an incident at Welch's Big Trees Grove, a private tourist attraction. A London magazine had commissioned Hill to photograph the redwoods at the grove, but the owner, Joseph Welch, refused and a quarrel between the two men ensued. Following the confrontation, Hill realized the magnificence of the trees and vowed to turn the grove into a public park. He felt that because of their size and antiquity, they should be preserved for future generations. Hill's efforts to make Welch's Big Trees Grove a public park failed, but other early conservationists urged Hill to work towards preserving the trees at Big Basin, which were larger and more magnificent. Hill, along with the Sempervirens Club, lobbied relentlessly and succeeded in establishing Big Basin Redwoods State Park in 1902. Their fight also led to the creation of the California State Parks system, which continues today in protecting the thousands of acres of redwoods in Big Basin and other parks around the state. For more information about Big Basin's Centennial, visit the Mountain Parks Foundation's web site at www.mountainparks.org or call 831-335-3174. For assistance with planning a trip to Big Basin, visit the Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council's website at www.santacruzca.org or call 800-833-3494. Edited by Dave Shultz |
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TM
As logging threatened to destroy the last of the
coastal redwoods in the late 19th century, photographer Andrew P. Hill and
the Sempervirens Club launched a campaign to save the trees and preserve
them for future generations. Their long, arduous campaign led to the
founding of Big Basin Redwoods State Park in 1902.
The celebration of Big Basin's 100 years will culminate
in a two-day Centennial Festival, September 14 and 15, 2002. The festival
will include musical performances by Zun Zun and the Banana Slug Band, a
"Camping through the Ages" exhibit with vintage camping gear and trailers,
guided nature walks, a children's area, campfire stories and sing-a-longs,
dance, theater, crafts and more.