The Redwood Trail

Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve

This is another in the series of "Benches and Other Great Places for Lunch," short hikes to a special spot, just right for a quiet getaway.

"O trees! So vast, so calm!

Softly ye lay

On heart and mind today

The unpurchaseable balm." - George Sterling

Directions: The trailhead is located 6.3 miles south of the Highway 35 (Skyline Boulevard) and Highway 92 intersection on the west side of the road. There is a kiosk and park information at the trailhead.

Grade: Almost level.

Distance: One-half mile round trip.

Time: As much or as little as you want.

Special Conditions: The trail is built for those who are physically limited, but everyone will enjoy it, especially small children wanting to explore. A bench and picnic tables are available, plus a chemical toilet. No water, no poison oak, no dogs or bikes or horses.

Within a few steps of Skyline Boulevard is an oasis of shady redwood forest that will quickly transport you to another time and place. The path is firm and wide, suitable for wheelchairs and strollers. As you walk along, the redwoods rise above you like pillars of a temple. Light and shadows alternate as the sun searches for small openings to touch the red-brown bark and the underlying plant community.

Soon you will spot a bench at the trailside, and a little farther on, a picnic table. In a few more steps, the Redwood Trail crosses Purisima Creek Trail (the chemical toilet is located there) and then continues on to two more picnic tables. These have an overhanging end to accommodate a wheelchair. In all, there are three tables and one bench on this short hike.

As you walk along, consider the redwood trees. You will notice that many have sprouted from the roots of their parent, forming a ring (known as a fairy ring or sprouting ring) around the stump. Many years ago--probably 100 years or more--after the mother tree was logged, hundreds of shoots may have sprouted from the parent's root system. They were gradually thinned out in their quest for light, nutrients, and space so that today only a few large trees survive in the ring. Considering the size of the redwood, you might expect a deep root system. Not so. The redwood does not have a taproot, but it sends out shallow lateral roots that usually go no deeper than 12 feet. However, the roots may extend laterall more than 50 feet in every direction and will interlock with the roots of adjacent trees.

The redwood is among the fastest growing trees in the world. By age 20, the tree is often 30 feet tall with a 10-inch diameter trunk. This is when the tree grows fastest, adding another two to six feet in height and one inch in trunk diameter each year.

Examine the bark. It is tough and fibrous, up to one foot thick on the larger trees. The bark resists fire because it contains only traces of resins and volatile oils. But you will often see a fire scar on the side of a redwood damaged by fire. If the fire is hot enough, it will penetrate the bark and burn the heartwood. A burnt-out area of this type is called a "goose pen." The term originated when pioneers built gates across large tree hollows, using them as pens for geese and other small livestock. Large goose pens are more readily viewed in old-growth stands of very large trees, such as at Big Basin State Park.

A common ground cover plant in this forest is redwood sorrel. The clover-like leaves are very sensitive to direct sunlight and will fold down like an umbrella if the plant gets overexposed to sun. The flowers turn from white to deep pink with age.

You will also see varieties of ferns. They are often established in trunks of fallen trees, in the furrows of living bark, and most commonly, in damp, exposed soil. Native Americans used them for medicinal purposes, and they wove the dark stems into baskets to form designs and patterns.

I'm sure you will enjoy your lunch stop on the Redwood Trail. For information on the redwood forest, check these books:

Coast Redwood: A Natural and Cultural History by Barbour, Lydon, Borchert, Popper, Whitworth and Evarts. Published by Cachume Press, Los Olivos, Calif.

Plants of Big Basin Redwoods State Park and the Coastal Mountains of Northern California by Mary Beth Cooney-Lazaneo and Kathleen Lyons. Mountain Press Publishing Co., Missoula, Mont., 1981

Your comments and hiking suggestions are always welcome.

E-mail to: trekertom@aol.com.

Footnote: Check out the Weekly Walker Web site at www.weeklywalker.com.