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BIG BASIN — In a devastating loss for one of California’s most venerable parks, the historic headquarters, nature center, campgrounds and other structures at Big Basin Redwoods State Park were destroyed in the raging wildfires currently burning through the Santa Cruz Mountains.
The status of the ancient redwoods in the park, some of which tower more than 300 feet tall and date back nearly 2,000 years, was unclear Thursday afternoon, but the damage was widespread. Redwood tree bark is heavily fire-resistant, but in intense fire storms the trees can be damaged, and some of the large trees near park headquarters had fallen, while others were still sanding but were scorched by the flames.
The blaze will indefinitely close Big Basin, California’s oldest state park, which receives more than 1 million visitors a year from around the world. Established in 1902, the park gave rise to the movement to preserve coast redwoods, the world’s tallest trees, from logging a century ago and sparked the birth of California’s state park system.
A Bay Area News Group reporter and photographer hiked four miles each way Thursday past closed roads to view the damage. They saw a scene of heavy losses, with the park’s main buildings burned to the foundations. Several large old-growth redwoods near the former park headquarters had fallen. Others were blackened by fire, but still had limbs and green growth near the tops, while dozens more had been burned to the tops but were still standing.
Several of the massive trees near the headquarters building were still glowing red from the heat inside their trunks. Multiple vehicles that appeared to be park maintenance vehicles were destroyed near a bank of melted pay phones.
Chris Spohrer, Santa Cruz district superintendent for state parks, said Thursday that rangers had only been able to briefly access the park’s central area so far due to fire risk.
“From what they described, it was a high-heat, high-intensity fire,” Spohrer said. “A lot of the canopy, they noted, had been burned. But it is too early to tell what the long-term damage is going to be to those trees.”
Spohrer confirmed Thursday that the park’s headquarters building, its historic lodge, ranger office, nature museum, store, maintenance shop and multiple park residences and campground bathrooms had been destroyed.
State parks officials issued a statement late Wednesday saying the 18,000-acre park “sustained extensive damage” Tuesday and would be closed indefinitely. The headquarters was a classic timber building on the National Register of Historic Places constructed in 1936 by President Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps. All campers, rangers and visitors were safely evacuated.
“The historic structures in California’s first state park are almost completely destroyed. It’s awful,” said Sam Hodder, president of Save the Redwoods League, a San Francisco-based conservation organization, which was founded in 1918.
“We are grateful that everybody got out and everybody is safe. That’s the most important thing,” Hodder said. “To have lost something that has been transforming people’s lives for more than 110 years, such an iconic place, such a terrific example of what parks mean to communities, it’s heartbreaking.”
Sara Barth, executive director of Sempervirens Fund, called the fire damage in Big Basin “devastating” and vowed to help the park rebuild. In 1900, members of Barth’s Los Altos-based preservation group led the campaign with San Jose photographer Andrew P. Hill to establish the park and protect its enormous trees from clear-cut logging. Since then, it has protected more than 35,000 acres of redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
“A piece of history may have been lost with the destruction of those classic facilities at Big Basin, but redwood forests are resilient and the people of California are resilient,” Barth said. “I’m confident Big Basin will be reborn from the ashes.”
Kristen Shive, a fire ecologist and director of science at Save the Redwoods League, said that redwood bark is up to a foot thick and resists fires, which is why, in part, the trees live so long. However, if fires burn hot enough, they can damage the cambium, the layer of material under the bark, which transports water and nutrients.
“An active crown fire could kill trees,” she said. “But in many cases, they will look pretty sickly and sad for a while, but they can eventually recover. We should be concerned, but we can have cautious optimism that some of these big giants have made it.”
Rancho del Oso Nature Center, located near the park’s western boundary with Waddell Beach along Highway 1 near the Santa Cruz-San Mateo County line, was reportedly still standing Thursday, as were buildings at Butano State Park, another home to redwoods near the coastal town of Pescadero.
State parks officials had not fully assessed the extent of the damage as the fire was still burning largely out of control in and around Boulder Creek and Bonny Doon, and questions remained about whether the park’s wastewater treatment plant and other facilities will have to be rebuilt, a setback that could prompt a prolonged closure.
On Thursday morning, Cal Fire, the state’s primary firefighting agency, said the blazes, which began with lightning strikes on Sunday, had burned 48,000 acres in remote parts of northern Santa Cruz County and southern San Mateo County, much of it heavy forests.
“The fire was right on top of the park,” said Santa Cruz County Supervisor Bruce McPherson, whose district includes Big Basin. “The smoke was hanging over it, and they couldn’t get any helicopters in there.”
Big Basin is home to the largest continuous stand of old-growth redwoods south of San Francisco. With 80 miles of hiking trails, the park also contains second-growth redwood forests that were logged generations ago, with Douglas fir, oaks and chaparral over elevations that vary from sea level to over 2,000 feet. It has waterfalls, scenic overlooks and a classic 1930s open-air amphitheater where rangers give nature talks.
“Big Basin is an icon,” said McPherson, whose great-grandfather, Duncan McPherson, was a leading advocate of saving Big Basin’s redwoods more than a century ago. “It’s the oldest state park. It’s a classic one. … For so many families it has just phenomenal memories.”
Check back for updates on this developing story.
