{"id":1651,"date":"2007-12-11T11:36:23","date_gmt":"2007-12-11T19:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/portola-redwoods-state-park\/"},"modified":"2009-05-20T11:52:56","modified_gmt":"2009-05-20T19:52:56","slug":"portola-redwoods-state-park","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/portola-redwoods-state-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Portola Redwoods State Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the San Jose Mercury News, August 2007<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n

The Old Tree is just a dot on the map of Portola Redwoods State Park — until you stand before its mind-boggling bulk and try to take it all in. It’s 297 feet tall, 12 feet across, perhaps 1,200 years old. Forget about fitting it into a single snapshot. <\/p>\n

\nPARK PROFILE<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Get the best map<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Acres:<\/strong> 2,800<\/p>\n

Miles of trails: <\/strong>18<\/p>\n

Limitations:<\/strong> No dogs on trails or near creeks. <\/p>\n

Hours:<\/strong> Quiet hours 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., when all trails are closed.<\/p>\n

Fees:<\/strong> $6 for day parking. <\/p>\n

Camping:<\/strong> Reserve a site at www.reserveamerica.com<\/a>; $20-$25 plus $7.50 online fee. Call (831) 338-8861 to reserve a site at the Slate Creek backpacking camp; $5 reservation fee, plus $5 for each night. <\/p>\n

Driving directions:<\/strong> From Highway 35, turn west onto Alpine Road, go 3 miles and turn onto Portola State Park Road. On Highway 35, Alpine is just over 19 miles south of Highway 92, seven miles south of Highway 84 and just over 6 miles north of Highway 9. Page Mill Road from Palo Alto goes directly to Alpine.\n<\/div>\n

Even if your brain can process the sight of the behemoth coast redwood standing at the terminus of the delightful Old Tree Trail (an easy half-mile from the park headquarters), it’s more difficult to reconcile what this tree represents: a rare survivor of an era when thousand-year-old trees were killed to turn a buck. Few old-growth redwoods remain at Portola, but the abundance of new growth shading the trails here is cause for hope: forests come back, if people let them. <\/p>\n

Portola Redwoods, in the Santa Cruz Mountains west of Palo Alto, is one of the Bay Area’s true all-season parks. Rushing waters in its creeks are a delight amid the rainy depths of winter, and cool ocean breezes are a welcome respite from the scalding heat of summer. Trails are well marked and graded for mostly easy to moderate ascents and descents. <\/p>\n

The park also is a crossroads for trail systems throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains: Long Ridge Open Space Preserve to the northeast and Pescadero Creek County Park to the west. There’s even a trail that connects to Big Basin and Butano state parks for truly intrepid trekkers.
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\nStandard precautions:<\/strong> Poison oak and ticks are common. The woods get buggy in the summertime, so bring repellant. The road to Portola is narrow and twisty with a few steep drop-offs — take it slow. Get a map ($2) at the park headquarters.<\/p>\n

Hike suggestions: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Easy:<\/strong> Sequoia Nature Trail, three quarters of a mile, near the park headquarters crosses Pescadero Creek, which runs all year. Iverson Trail goes about a half-mile to Tiptoe Falls — a trickle now but far more scenic in the spring. The half-mile Old Tree Trail is the best of the bunch.<\/p>\n

Moderate:<\/strong> The Slate Creek Trail to the Page Mill site is a pleasant six-mile out-and-back hike climbing gradually through a thick forest of second-growth redwoods. <\/p>\n

Hard:<\/strong> If you’ve got the legs for a 13-miler, the trek to the Peters Creek Loop is a must. It climbs gradually for a bit over five miles, then dives steeply down a hillside that takes you to the Land of the Giants: an impressive stand of ancient coast redwoods. <\/p>\n