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BOULDER CREEK, Calif., — Big Basin Redwoods State Park (SP) marks its one-year anniversary since welcoming visitors back into the majestic coastal redwoods on July 22, 2022, following the closure from the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fire that devastated the park. This past year, despite being hit hard by winter storms, over 28,000 people visited the park through a limited-access day-use reservation system. Additionally, a temporary visitor center is now open, and miles of trails and fire road are accessible. Camping returned to the park through an interim walk-in campground at Rancho Del Oso, the coastal side of Big Basin Redwoods SP.
“It is wonderful to see people back in Big Basin,” said Santa Cruz District Superintendent Chris Spohrer. “After the losses of the CZU Lightning Complex Fire, it is inspiring to find visitors exploring the forest in its unique state of succession, experiencing this iconic park in a new way.”
While temporary facilities are available, California State Parks is now kicking off the Facilities Management Plan process to plan the rebuilding of permanent facilities in the park. State Parks invites public input in the process, including taking an online survey about park facilities. For more information on how to take the survey and to get involved, please visit www.reimaginingbigbasin.org.
Last summer, the park reopened through a limited-access day-use reservation system, allowing visitors to experience the recovering of the old-growth redwood forest in Big Basin. Visitors can witness the regrowth of the iconic trees and can also see signs of wildlife—including deer, raccoons, foxes, mountain lions, coyotes, bats and a variety of bird species—returning to the park’s recovering forest.
It will be several years before the park is fully reopened. Work to be done first includes the rebuilding the entire trail network, campgrounds and utilities. Public access will continue to expand as areas are rehabilitated and made safe. Since reopening last year, State Parks staff, partners, contractors and volunteers have continued to work toward increasing public access:
- The Horse Camp at Rancho del Oso on the coastal side of Big Basin has been rehabilitated and as of Monday, July 17, is open for walk-in, non-equestrian camping. This campground will be open on a temporary basis in partnership with Save the Redwoods League and Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks; however, there is no equestrian trail access on the coast side of the park. The campground will be reinstated as a horse camp once equestrian trails have been restored. To learn more about walk-in camping, visit the State Parks Rancho del Oso webpage.
- Additional trails were restored and opened to the public earlier this year, including the first mile of Sunset Trail, 1 mile of the Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail from Gazos Creek Road to North Escape Road, the Meteor Trail, and the first mile of North Escape Road. Trail work continues with multiple trail crews active in the park, and additional trail segments will continue to open as they are rehabilitated. Currently, 4 miles of trails are open for hiking and over 18 miles of fire roads are open for hiking and biking.
- Public access has been expanded in the main day-use area. The number of available reservations through the online system has increased and a limited number of parking spaces are offered without a reservation. As an alternative, the public can also visit the park using public bus service through a recent partnership with Santa Cruz METRO, which reaches the park on summer weekends. Visitation is high on weekends, and access is guaranteed only with an online reservation or by using the public bus.
- Interim park staff operation facilities are being expanded at the Saddle Mountain property at the intersection of Highway 236 and Little Basin.
Through the online parking reservation system created and managed by operating partner Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, reservations are available for day-use parking and are $8 each (which includes a $6 day-use parking fee with a $2 reservation fee). Visitors are encouraged to make a reservation online in advance to guarantee access to the limited parking area. State Parks day-use passes and other park entry programs are honored. Visitors can check availability here. All fees support the park.
The 2020 fire burned more than 97% of the park and destroyed nearly every structure, including the park’s headquarters, campgrounds and housing for park employees. Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks created a short documentary in 2021 to mark the one-year anniversary of the fire.
Additional CZU Lightning Complex Fire Recovery
Beyond Big Basin, fire-impacted trails have been fully reconstructed and reopened in the Fall Creek Unit of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park and partially reopened in Butano State Park.
Also, ecological assessment of forest condition and fire resiliency, including extensive post-fire data collection, has been completed in Big Basin Redwoods, Butano and Año Nuevo State Parks. A forest management strategy is being prepared and forest stewardship projects have been planned and completed, including pile-burning projects for forest health and fuel reduction, preparation for prescribed broadcast burns in fall 2023, an ongoing forest health project in Butano SP and planning for forest health and fuel reduction projects at Big Basin.
What’s Next
California State Parks is kicking off the Big Basin Facilities Management Plan process to plan reestablishment of recreational access and facilities according to the Reimagining Big Basin Vision Summary completed in July 2022 and according to the park’s adopted General Plan. Once completed, this Facilities Management Plan will outline plans for reestablishing park facilities such as campgrounds, structures and day-use parking at a more specific site-planning level, while rebuilding some facilities differently to meet the overarching goals of prioritizing the health of the old-growth redwood forest and increasing equity in access to the park. To learn more about the planning and rebuilding process, please visit the Reimagining Big Basin website.
Big Basin Redwoods SP, acquired in 1902, is the oldest state park in California. The lands were originally the homelands of the Quiroste and Cotoni Tribes, ancestral relatives of today’s Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe.
 Photo 1: The renovated Rancho del Oso Horse Camp on the coastal side of Big Basin Redwoods State Park is now temporarily open as a walk-in campground while trails remain closed in the area. Photo 2: State Parks staff gives an introduction to a group of hikers organized by Latino Outdoors at the temporary park visitor center. Photo 3: Group hiking on the Dool Trail, one of the rehabilitated trails open for hiking after the CZU Lightning Complex Fire. Photo 4: State Parks trail crew members place a log as a retaining wall along Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail.
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