On Saturday morning, April 12, 2008 we took a hike at Big Basin in Santa Cruz Mountains. It was such a beautiful day with our target desination Berry Creek Falls.
We left from the headquarters parking lot from 8:15 am on the Skyline to the Sea Trail, taking the Berry Creek Falls trail to the first waterfall. After viewing the spectacular waterfall and having a snack we pushed on Silver Falls were we climbed up next to the waterfall and then over to Sunset Trail which takes you back to the headquarters. The loop is 10.5 miles and takes approximately 5 1/2 hours. The elevation changes +/- 400 feet in several locations.
We finished the hike visiting with all of my Hike for Discovery friends having a soda in the parking lot and headed home for the hot tub which is really coming in handy after these long hikes.
Big Basin is California's oldest State Park, established in 1902. Home to the largest continuous stand of Ancient Coast Redwoods south of San Francisco, the park consists of Old Growth and recovering Redwood Forest, with mixed conifer, oaks, chaparral, and riparian habitats.
Elevations in the park vary from sea level to over 2,000 feet. The climate ranges from foggy and damp near the ocean to sunny, warm ridge tops.
The park has a surprising number of waterfalls, a wide variety of environments (from lush canyon bottoms to sparse chaparral-covered slopes, many animals (deer, raccoons, an occasional bobcat) and lots of bird life-- including Steller’s jays, egrets, herons and California woodpeckers.
Here is a video of the beautiful waterfall.
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