Roaring Camp is a private company that is housed right next door to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. The former property that became both Roaring Camp and the state park was once one large ranch called Big Trees Ranch, which San Francisco businessman Joseph Warren Welch bought in 1867 to preserve a stunning grove of old growth trees that were in danger of being logged. Big Trees Ranch was eventually sold, part to the county of Santa Cruz (the part which eventually became the state park) and part to a man named F. Norman Clark, who had a dream to "bring the romance and color of steam railroading back to America." Clark worked with the state park to plan a line that would disturb as few trees as possible, and the railroad tracks run through the state park. This was an incredible excursion: both a train ride (which is always fun) and an adventure into the heart of the redwood forest along the steep canyon banks of the San Lorenzo River.
The timing is just about perfect for them. When my daughter gets to be older we will definitely come back and do the longer route all the way to the beach.
Looking at the state park map, I estimate that we made it at least as far as the Garden of Eden, We might have made it as far as Frisbee Beach, but I am not sure since I haven't hiked it yet. I don't have enough markers to go by from the map, and the audio recording on the loud speaker was more informative about an interesting osprey nest rather than on our precise coordinates. It was gorgeous to ride by the large old growth trees near the start of the trip and then make it to the valley of the San Lorenzo River. As we moved further from Roaring Camp the valley opened up more, and the change in the light was just beautiful. My train-loving daughter and I were both delighted!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
December 2020
Categories
All
|