Date: August 11 & 12, 2007

Level of Difficulty: Easy to Moderate

Agency Partner: California State Parks

Located in the Santa Cruz mountains just outside of Felton, Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park is beautiful. Together we will restore sections of the River Trail along the San Lorenzo river.

This project will be both fun and rewarding! We'd love to have you join us. Please register - it helps us have the right amount of food on hand.
Sign up now!

About the Park: Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park is nestled in the forested coastal Santa Cruz mountains. It is nearly 1,800 acres and offers 20 miles of hiking and equestrian trails winding through old-growth redwood forest. The oldest trees in the park are 1,400 to 1,800 years old and the tallest tree is about 285 feet. Bikes are allowed on the roads and fire roads. The park is adjacent to Roaring Camp Big Trees Railroad.

About the Project: Volunteers will conduct extensive maintenance and rehabilitation of the very popular “River Trail.” Because of its proximity to the San Lorenzo River and the high public use, sections of the trail are damaged and are wet and unpassable in winter. This project allows for the construction of various trail features including turnpikes, fencing, steps and some re-routing of existing trails.

Come Prepared: The V-O-Cal Henry Cowell Redwoods Project Fact Sheet (PDF) contains details about the weekend, including what to bring and where to go. Please arrive with your REI waiver and V-O-Cal waiver signed. Also, bring your own place setting: fork, plate, cup. It helps reduce waste! All this and more is in the Project Details PDF.

Fees: None! Camping and park access fees are waived for all V-O-Cal volunteers. Bring your voucher with you.

Camping:
Camping is open to volunteers both Friday and Saturday nights. Camping is optional but available both Friday and Saturday nights. Park entry fees and camping fees are FREE for volunteers!

Volunteering Options: We encourage you to come for the weekend, although you can volunteer for one day if you can't make the entire weekend.

Food and Drinks : All food from Saturday breakfast thru Sunday lunch is provided, including cold soft drinks and beer after the trail work on Saturday, followed by dinner and entertainment on Saturday night.

Vegetation and Natural Resources:
The park offers remarkable diversity. California bay, tan oak, big leaf maple and douglas fir are the redwoods’ companion trees. Redwoods require the moist ocean fog belt. Ponderosa pine is the most unusual tree species in the park, as they normally only grow in the Sierra Nevadas above 3,000 feet. According to Santa Cruz Magazine, “The park contains part of one of the rarest regions in the world, the Santa Cruz Sandhills, a unique ecosystem exposing the ancient sea floor and plant and animal species found nowhere else.”

Important Note : If you or your friends plan to attend but have not formally registered, please remind them to do so - it helps us have the right amount of food on hand. Sign up now!

Directions: Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park is near Felton on Highway 9 in the Santa Cruz Mountains.From San Jose: take Highway 17 toward Santa Cruz. Take Mt. Hermon Road and turn right. Follow Mt. Hermon Road until it ends at Graham Hill Road. Turn right, and go to the next stop light (Highway 9). Turn left on Highway 9 and go through downtown Felton. The park entrance is a half mile down on your left.

Download 1.4MB map of Henry Cowell Redwoods.

Thank you to our project partners and sponsors:
Bingham McCutcheon
California State Park
ClifBar
Horn Murdock Cole
Mountain Parks Foundation
Peet’s Coffee
Port of Redwood City
REI
Tecnu

Some helpful and relevant web sites:

State Parks in Santa Cruz
http://www.santacruzstateparks.org/parks/henrycowell/

California State Parks - Henry Cowell Redwoods
http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=546

Henry Cowell Redwoods State Parks map
http://www.virtualparks.org/maps/maps-official.html

Mountain Parks Foundation
www.mountainparks.org

Sign-up! Join us for the V-O-Cal project at Henry Cowell http://vocal.civicore.com