Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park

 

It must have been a decade ago when we visited the park last time! There was a wildfire in 2020 that destroyed 3.8 acres of forest and a town called Paradise in the Butte County.

Today, while visiting UCSC (University of California at Santa Cruz), we drive through the park and take another look at it.

Refer to the map below, UCSC is at the south end of the loop. Coming from Highway 1 North, exit at Highland Ave, then left onto High St. you will see some historic ranch buildings. The road becomes Empire Grade. If it is not the holiday, suggest visiting the UCSC Arboretum and Botanic Garden. Too bad, it is closed when we visited.

Link to Google Map

Continued is the UCSC campus. There are several collages scatter around. This is not like any university I visited before. It is an university in a hugh forest! There are many trails for hikers and bikers as well. Right turn on Felton, we entered the redwoods area. All the trees are 4~6 stories high. After the winding road, we arrived at Felton. A town on Highway 9. If you continue north, that will lead you to the Big Basin Redwoods State Park. We took Graham Hill Road, passed the Roaring Camp Train Depot, a place kids woild enjoy where you can ride the train through the forest. (Holiday closed)

Continue on Graham Hill Road, we are back to Highway 1 at Santa Cruz. The loop total 21 miles. There are horses, dunkys, all sorts of things along the roads. On top of that, there are small cabins, pretty and cozy scatter around the forest. what a nice ride!

City Parks - Cupertino

 

Wilson Park

We have talked about county parks, state parks and beaches, let's brief a bit on the city parks. Give Cupertino as an example, not because she is the sister city of the Hsinchu, Taiwan, but the city I live.

There are total of 15 city parks. Introduction and nice pictures can be found on the city website. I would just share a few of mine. Usually a city park is small, some with a little league baseball field, some with a soccor field; a playground and picnic area. That's it.

Portal Park is on the Portal Ave. right behind my backyard. We are on the corner, som the other side is an elementary school. It was called Portal, but later changed to L.P. Collins Elementary School.

Portal Park

My house

In the morning, several seniors practice Tai-Chi here. The redwood can grow very big. You don't need to go far into the forest to see. Luckily they are taken care of by the city. 

Redwood cut off

Wilson Park could be the next closest. I used to jog from the N. Blaney, cross Stevens Creek Blvd south onto city trail, pass Wilson Park, then Creekside Park. Round trip is a bit short of 3 miles. Except the traffic light on the Stevens Creek Blvd, it is a nice route. The city trail can also lead to the library on the other end.

In summary, Cupertino is a nice city. Apple must have paid a lot of tax. However the housing is too expensive in the recent years. The only shopping mall Velco was demonished a few years ago, but not able to be rebuilt ever since.

Stanford Dish Area

 

Other than city parks, county parks, state parks and beaches, here is another kind of place you can hike. The Dish is a special area to both Stanford and the surrounding communities, and it serves many purposes. (link to Stanford website)

We park on the Stanford Ave off Junipero Serra Blvd. Limited parking space, so you would want to come early. So wait a bit, there would be people leaving. Cross the Junipero Serra Blvd is the gated trailhead. The area map provides a good view of the area. We are at L1 now, follow the blue, you can choose clockwise or count clockwise. Total length is about 6KM. There is no shed thoughout the trail. Can't imagine it would be like in the summer.

To begin with is the uphill. Saw people running (slowly).

Once you come up to the hill, you can see the Stanford campus from a distance.

Turn to the other side, the 1st dish shows up. And not too far away, the 2nd dish (top of the page).

If you take the yellow path (ref to the map), you can reach the Pumpkin Patch at Webb Ranch.

Continued on, you cae see the Stanford Golf Course.

Mark on the pavement show you how far you have hiked.

Overall, it is a nice trail. With many up and down hills, provide you with enough exercise while enjoying scenic view.