Portola Redwoods State Park

Think of Portola Redwoods as Big Basin’s much quieter distant cousin-tucked on the backside of the Santa Cruz Mountains, reached only by a long, winding descent on Alpine Road. If Big Basin once drew the crowds, Portola was where the locals went for their weekend dose of redwoods, creeks, and solitude. To this day, most of the hikers you’ll meet are from the neighborhood-or at least from the next valley over.

Driving down into Portola feels like stepping into a lost world. The road narrows, switchbacks pile up, and cell service vanishes. By the time you arrive at the visitor center, you’re already in another rhythm: the quiet shuffle of redwood needles underfoot, the cool hush of ferns along the creek.

The park itself is a basin drained by two creeks-Pescadero and Peters-both meandering through cathedral groves of redwood. On the ridges, Douglas fir, madrone, and oak take over, giving the park its layered texture. Unlike Big Basin, which was more or less clear-cut during the logging boom, Portola’s trees were logged selectively, mostly for shingle-making. That meant only straight-grained trunks were taken, and-lucky for us-many giants were left standing.

The park tells a quieter story of California’s redwood history. No grand railroad logging operations here, no lumber camps of hundreds. Instead, smaller crews working in hidden canyons, splitting shingles for barns and cabins. Walk Slate Creek Trail or poke around near Peters Creek and you’ll still find the survivors-towering, centuries-old redwoods that escaped the saw.

And while Portola is often described as a “neighborhood park,” don’t mistake that for ordinary. In spring, wildflowers edge the trails. Year-round, Tiptoe Falls trickles like a secret gift, framed in ferns. And if you tackle the loop up Summit Trail and across Slate Creek, you’ll find yourself alone more often than not, with only woodpeckers and wrens for company.

For me, Portola embodies one of the great joys of the California State Park system: finding wilderness where you least expect it. No lodge, no big campground stores, no major highway roaring nearby. Just redwoods, water, and trails that invite you to slow down and stay awhile.