Redwood [REPACK] Download
Robinette Stiles
Dr. Aurelia Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park is a hidden gem of redwood forest off Redwood Road, just a few miles over the ridge from downtown Oakland. The forest's peaceful groves give little evidence of the park's bustling past. In the mid-1800s the area was the scene of extensive logging to supply building materials for the San Francisco Bay Area. The logging era has long since passed, and a stately forest of 150-foot coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) has replaced those cut down.
This 1,833-acre park is home to a great forest of coast redwoods as well as evergreens, chaparral, and grasslands. Wildlife within the park includes rare species such as the golden eagle and Alameda striped racer. Deer, raccoons, rabbits, and squirrels are often seen.
Travel over trestles, through towering redwood groves and up a winding narrow-gauge grade to the summit of Bear Mountain as conductors narrate the history of Roaring Camp, the railroad and the forest.
Fifty miles north of Eureka, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park protects sandy beaches and open meadows grazed by magnificent herds of Roosevelt elk. Ferns cascade down canyon walls. Lush stands of the world's tallest living tree species, the coast redwood, stand in primeval majesty. Visitors can stay at either Elk Prairie or Gold Bluffs Beach campgrounds and explore the park via three scenic drives, 75 miles of hiking trails, and a 19-mile bike loop. A World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve, Prairie Creek and the three other parks in the Redwood National and State Parks group protect 45 percent of California's remaining old-growth redwoods