Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park

June 19-23, 2018

Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, site 7. What a lovely campground just a few miles from Santa Cruz, open seasonally April 1-Nov 1. The only negative is poison oak, and LOTS of it, around about half the campsites. Our campsite is spacious (ours would hold at least 5 tents!) and cleared of poison oak, but one must not wander off the trail or roads because it is everywhere. We are keeping Tony on a short leash. I see a lot of kids having a wonderful time playing in it --- I wonder how that will turn out for them? Anyway, as I said the campsites are nice, most are spacious with a large, sturdy table and a cupboard attached. Each site has the typical fire ring with grill. Most sites are shaded by a lovely canopy of trees, which is just beautiful, a few have full sun. If you are counting on solar power you would want to pick and choose one of the few sites that have sun when booking online. We are very happy with the filtered sunlight and cool weather. There are nice, hot, coin operated showers in two of the restrooms. Water faucets and trash containers are conveniently located to the campsites. I thought of Sierra and Matt because there are 14 hiking trails listed to explore from .3 to 3.3 miles in length, they enjoy hiking! One of the hikes is 45 minutes to the Redwood Grove. It is also a 5 minute drive. Guess which one we did? There are a lot of Rhododendron but not in bloom this time of year. There are 113 camps here with a variety of types. We drove around and noted our favorites. Notably but not comprehensive: 7, 35, 39, 42, 47, 96 - and double camps for the family would be 52 & 54 or 61 & 63.  

One day we drove the few miles to Felton and through the little town to get to the Redwood Grove. There is a one mile loop to walk with numbers and a little guide to read as you go. There is a small Visitors Center, gift shop I didn't go into, and some other facilities in the area. It was a nice outing.  You will find the Roaring Camp Railroad near Felton as well.  You can take this steam train on a narrated ride through the Redwood forest to Bear Mountain for some great views, then back. The other option is the Beach Train to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. You can catch this train in Felton, Roaring Camp, or at the Boardwalk, one way or round trip can be purchased. They advertise Ziplining but I didn't read much about it.

This would be a great family camp, but of course no beach for fishing close by. Now we are on our way to Bothe-Napa Valley. I should have thought this through better, departing on a Saturday and the emotional toll of returning to Napa.