Visitors 53
Modified 9-Dec-24
Created 22-Jan-15
112 photos
This property on the coast near Davenport, CA has been proposed as the site of a new National Monument. It is the gateway to a treasure of preserved forests, canyons, grasslands -- the ecosystems of the California Coast. Formerly owned by Coast Dairies, then the Sempervirens Fund, it is now owned and managed by the Federal Bureau of Land Management.
I went with Steve Reed, the manager of the campaign for a National Monument, along Warrenella Road, up a ridge and into the redwoods beyond the first crest. We passed through grasslands with views of the coastal bluffs; an oak forest; chaparral, with a few bright red spring flowers; and a deep second-growth forest of coast redwoods and Douglas fir, populated by milkmaid flowers in bloom, a banana slug, and a turkey vulture.
There is a fantastic old forest of California Live Oaks (Quercus agrifolia) on the ridge -- small in extent, twisted trunks, very different from the California live oaks I know at Jasper Ridge.
We experienced just a tiny taste of the varied ecosystems proposed for the Santa Cruz Redwoods National Monument. In particular, we did not venture along the streams or the riparian habitats.
I do include a few images from the bottom of Bonny Doon Road, and from the Whale City Bakery in Davenport, full of bikers having lunch, taking a break from making their way along this wonderful coastline.
If you are interested in the campaign to have this area declared a National Monument, visit <SantaCruzRedwoods.org>.
