Every Trail Tells a Story
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park
Stand among some of the finest old-growth redwoods south of San Francisco.
Experience four distinct ecosystems in a single 4-mile hike.
Mix natural wonder with a bit of whimsy-steam trains, named trees, and living redwood history.
Other redwood groves stand like grand cathedrals of the Santa Cruz Mountains; Henry Cowell Redwoods, in contrast, is an accessible, friendly neighborhood chapel-still awe-inspiring, but easier to hike and contemplate. This is where generations of Californians have had their first “wow” moment among redwoods.
The park exists because two men-industrialist Henry Cowell and innkeeper Joseph Welch-saw value in the “Big Trees” long before conservation was fashionable. Welch acquired part of Rancho Cañada de Rincón in the 1860s, protecting a grove of redwoods so remarkable that San Jose-Santa Cruz railroad passengers would stop their trip just to wander among them (and probably to stretch their legs before wooden train seats permanently altered their posture). Cowell, a lime magnate whose fortune was literally built on quarried rock, donated land that later formed the heart of the park. In the 1930s and 1950s, their legacies merged into the 4,600-acre Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park we know today.
The Big Trees Grove-home to coast redwoods soaring over 270 feet high, with diameters as wide as a two-car garage-is one of the finest south of San Francisco. Some trees are estimated at 1,500-1,800 years old. One giant was named for Theodore Roosevelt, who toured the grove in 1903, though today the trees could just as easily be named for every stroller-pushing parent, field-tripping student, or awestruck visitor who gasped at their immensity.
But Henry Cowell isn’t a one-note park. Its genius lies in its diversity: redwood river flats, sunbaked chaparral ridges, pine forests, and oak woodlands all within a short hike. In a mere four miles you can move from moist, shaded groves where ferns flourish to dry ridgelines where manzanita and madrone twist out of the rocks. Few places in California let you time-travel through so many ecosystems in such a short walk.
And if you need a reminder you’re still in civilization, the whistle of the nearby Roaring Camp & Big Trees Railroad-a narrow-gauge steam train that puffs right through the Santa Cruz Mountains-will supply it. Kids wave, engineers toot the whistle, and you half expect Teddy Roosevelt himself to come roaring around the bend in his Rough Rider hat.
The main entrance and visitor center for Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park is located at 101 N Big Trees Park Road just south of Felton on Highway 9. Join River Trail near the park entrance or begin from the main picnic area by the visitor center.
Start on River Trail, meandering along the San Lorenzo River under the shade of second-growth redwoods. A quarter mile downstream, you’ll duck beneath a railroad trestle and begin your climb out of the canyon on Eagle Creek Trail. Suddenly the air feels drier, the shade thinner-madrone, manzanita, and even ponderosa pine take over.
Stay right on Pine Trail, the steepest stretch, and climb to the observation deck. The payoff? Sweeping views of the Monterey Bay, the tangled folds of the Santa Cruz Mountains, and forests stretching as far as you can see.
For your return, descend Ridge Trail through mixed oak and pine woodland until you rejoin River Trail. Loop back through the redwoods, and let the towering trees welcome you home.