Hiking_trail_thru_LandPaths_Grove_of_Old_Trees

The Grove of Old Trees is a

open space reserve An open space reserve (also called open space preserve, open space reservation, and green space) is an area of protected or conserved land or water on which development is indefinitely set aside. The purpose of an open space reserve may include ...

forest of mostly second growth coast redwood trees on a broad, flat ridgetop west of

Occidental, California Occidental is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma County, California, United States. The population was 1,115 at the 2010 census, down from 1,272 at the 2000 census. History Founded in 1876, Occidental was a stop on the North Pacific Coast ...

Location

Stewarded and owned by LandPaths for more than 20 years, the Grove of Old Trees is a healthy, old-growth stand of Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) Accessible only via a narrow, two-lane rural road, the Grove is tucked away in a neighborhood on a road used by neighbors for walking and biking. Through traffic and parking surveys and neighborhood feedback, it's been found that the Grove of Old Tree's tiny parking lot is highly impacted by visitors on major holidays, creating traffic and parking congestion. To protect the beloved redwoods in the Grove and to minimize parking issues reservations are now required to park at the Grove during times of high use, including all major holidays. Please note that there is just one small parking lot at the Grove of Old Trees. This is for the safety of you, your family, and the neighborhood. https://www.landpaths.org/grove-of-old-trees/ There are no signs on the roads leading to the grove or on the trails within the grove. Cautious drivers on this single lane road will find a small turnout with a wooden archway on the right. There is only one small parking lot. LandPaths maintains a system of free, publicly accessible trails with some suitable for

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

s and

stroller Various methods of transporting children have been used in different cultures and times. These methods include baby carriages (prams in British English), infant car seats, portable bassinets (carrycots), strollers (pushchairs), slings, backpacks ...

s. There is a picnic table near the west end of the grove, but there are no

bathroom A bathroom or washroom is a room, typically in a home or other residential building, that contains either a bathtub or a shower (or both). The inclusion of a wash basin is common. In some parts of the world e.g. India, a toilet is typically i ...

facilities or trash containers. Dogs must be kept on a leash within the grove.

Visiting the Grove of Old Trees

Reservations are required on the following major holidays during open hours. Those without a reservation will be asked to come back on another day. You can make a registration by going to the Grove of Old Trees page on the LandPaths website. * Memorial Day – Monday, May 29 * Independence Day – Tuesday, July 4 * Labor Day – Monday, September 4 * Thanksgiving Day - Thursday November 23 * Christmas Day - Monday December 25

History

Originally the area was part of the ancestral home of the Coast

Miwok The Miwok (also spelled Miwuk, Mi-Wuk, or Me-Wuk) are members of four linguistically related Native American groups indigenous to what is now Northern California, who traditionally spoke one of the Miwok languages in the Utian family. The word ' ...

and Southern

Pomo The Pomo are an Indigenous people of California. Historical Pomo territory in Northern California was large, bordered by the Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to Clear Lake, and mainly between Cleone and Duncans Point. One small grou ...

Indigenous peoples. Following European colonization, the grove was owned by the Coleman and Van Alstyne families. Those families preserved a few

old-growth forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

trees for family gatherings while the surrounding forests were converted to

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

. In the 1990s, remnant old growth redwoods were slated to be cut down as part of a timber harvest plan. County residents launched a campaign to protect the grove. Subsequently, LandPaths purchased the grove in 2000 with the assistance of the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District, the

Save the Redwoods League Save the Redwoods League is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect and restore coast redwood (''Sequoia sempervirens'') and giant sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') trees through the preemptive purchase of development rights ...

, the

California Coastal Conservancy The California State Coastal Conservancy (CSCC, SCC) is a non-regulatory state agency in California established in 1976 to enhance coastal resources and public access to the coast. The CSCC is a department of the California Natural Resources Agenc ...

, and private individuals. Sonoma Ag and Open Space holds a Forever Wild

conservation easement In the United States, a conservation easement (also called conservation covenant, conservation restriction or conservation servitude) is a power invested in a qualified private land conservation organization (often called a "land trust") or gove ...

on the property, which mandates zero take of trees .

Ecology

The grove is mostly

second-growth A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

redwoods with a

tanoak ''Notholithocarpus densiflorus'', commonly known as the tanoak or tanbark-oak, is a broadleaf tree in the family Fagaceae, and the type species of the genus ''Notholithocarpus''. It is native to the far western United States, particularly Oregon ...

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but abov ...

and

sword fern Sword fern is a common name for several ferns and may refer to: *''Nephrolepis'', a tropical genus of ferns, especially: **''Nephrolepis exaltata'', commonly cultivated as a houseplant, including the Boston fern *''Polystichum'', a cosmopolitan gen ...

ground cover. The few surviving old-growth redwoods on this ridgetop location are smaller than those found on valley floors.

References

{{coord, 38, 23, 57, N, 122, 59, 27, W, type:landmark_region:US-CA, display=title Nature reserves in California