Your Favorite Redwood Park? (Santa Rosa, Guerneville: backyard, trees, pay)

[TVC15]

I love Big Sur!

There are just too many beautiful Redwood scenes in N.CA it is impossible to pick my favorite. I love all the nature here and those Redwoods are so majestic!

[OwlKaMyst]

As a kid growing up in the Bay Area, it was Memorial park. I moved north to the Mendocino-Humboldt county line and wandered many groves. There are several beautiful places to get out and enjoy the redwoods along the Avenue of the Giants. That was part of my address for a while even. However, the spots that are magical to me do not have official names.
One is called 'snake pit' at the bottom of the hill from the homestead. It lost a bit of its charm when the bypass went in. The other spot is a bit north of there, the locals call it 'twin trees'. It's a great spot under the redwoods and right on the Eel river.

[Tex?Il?]

I too would love to go the Humboldt Redwoods Thats where you really get the extensive redwood forests. The redwood forests actually are large forests once you get around Mendocino county. In the Bay Area they are more groves of trees surrounded by chaparral and grassland. People think thats because of historic logging, and while that of course affected the distribution of redwoods no doubt, they can only grow in specific microclimates that far south.

In the Bay Area, such as Marin/Muir Woods, I was more fascinated by the juxtaposition of the towering trees more than the redwood grove on its own. You can nearly throw a rock from standing in the middle of Muir Woods to the windswept coastal prairie or the scrub and chaparral covered ridges.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

I too would love to go the Humboldt Redwoods Thats where you really get the extensive redwood forests. The redwood forests actually are large forests once you get around Mendocino county. In the Bay Area they are more groves of trees surrounded by chaparral and grassland. People think thats because of historic logging, and while that of course affected the distribution of redwoods no doubt, they can only grow in specific microclimates that far south.

In the Bay Area, such as Marin/Muir Woods, I was more fascinated by the juxtaposition of the towering trees more than the redwood grove on its own. You can nearly throw a rock from standing in the middle of Muir Woods to the windswept coastal prairie or the scrub and chaparral covered ridges.

It's also the soil in a specific area too and the wind. In the Bay Area most of all the forest grows on the east facing slopes, sheltered from the constant sea breezes.

[OwlKaMyst]

I don't think that the wind from the ocean has much to do with it. The redwoods go right to the ocean in places like Big Sur and Fort Bragg. In the winters up in Mendocino and Humboldt, the winds can ravage through the Eel river valley. Winds can be so strong that they lifted our aluminum boat and tossed it over a 4 foot fence.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by OwlKaMyst

I don't think that the wind from the ocean has much to do with it. The redwoods go right to the ocean in places like Big Sur and Fort Bragg. In the winters up in Mendocino and Humboldt, the winds can ravage through the Eel river valley. Winds can be so strong that they lifted our aluminum boat and tossed it over a 4 foot fence.

Its more to do with soil moisture and salt content. If the winds have an overall drying effect, especially with winds that have salt particles from the ocean, then that is going to make a huge difference, when compared to how much moisture is received from fog and rain. Its not the wind by itself that is the issue.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

Its more to do with soil moisture and salt content. If the winds have an overall drying effect, especially with winds that have salt particles from the ocean, then that is going to make a huge difference, when compared to how much moisture is received from fog and rain. Its not the wind by itself that is the issue.

^thanks better explanation. Check out Tilden Park for a great illustration of this. The west side of Wildcat Creek, the east slope is thickly forested, mostly with Laurels and a few Douglas Firs in this case. There are even lots of ferns, moss and lichens. Immediately on the other side of the creek it becomes Eucalyptus and Oak savanna and is much drier looking.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

^thanks better explanation. Check out Tilden Park for a great illustration of this. The west side of Wildcat Creek, the east slope is thickly forested, mostly with Laurels and a few Douglas Firs in this case. There are even lots of ferns, moss and lichens. Immediately on the other side of the creek it becomes Eucalyptus and Oak savanna and is much drier looking.

Another perfect example is Point Reyes National Seashore. Inverness Ridge is the main ridge dividing that peninsula. You have bishop pine forests on the east side, coastal scrub and prairie on the west.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

Another perfect example is Point Reyes National Seashore. Inverness Ridge is the main ridge dividing that peninsula. You have bishop pine forests on the east side, coastal scrub and prairie on the west.

True. Thanks for telling me which pines those are

[DMenscha]

Calaveras Big Trees State Park.