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The Resilience of Big Basin Redwood Forest
Stanford: The Bill Lane Center for the American West
The overlooked women who saved the Big Basin redwoods

Big Basin

California’s Oldest State Park, before the CZU Lightening Complex fire in 2020.
Photo by Peter Burazon.

Waddell Creek

When the Gaspar de Portolá expedition camped at Waddell creek in 1769, he wrote about the “tall trees” in the distance. His view of the Big Basin, more than 250 years ago, probably looked much like this.

The Giant Burl Tree

In the Victorian era, Henry Cowell Redwood State Park, known as Big Trees attracted tourists from all over just as it does today. Then, dozens of trees had names with corresponding plaques.