Portola Redwoods State Park

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Portola Redwoods State Park is a 2,800 acres (1,100 ha) state park in California situated in San Mateo County.^[1] The parks' primary watercourses — Peters Creek, Pescadero Creek and their associated tributaries — converge at Portola Redwoods State Park. Tip Toe Falls is a small waterfall along Fall Creek, a tributary of Pescadero Creek.

The indigenous

By 1924, about 1,600 acres (650 ha) — about half of the park's contemporary size — was bequeathed to the Masonic Lodge, whose Shriners subsequently sold the land to the State of California, and Portola Redwoods State Park officially opened under the auspices of the California Department of Parks and Recreation in 1945. Owing to the fundraising efforts of such environmental organizations as Save the Redwoods League, the park was later enlarged to its current dimensions.^[6]

Relatively remote and secluded, the park offers various recreational opportunities for visitors, including a variety of hiking trails ranging in length and difficulty. For instance, the 1.2 miles (1.9 km) roundtrip Old Tree Trail confers access to the eponymous redwood tree, renowned for its longevity (estimated at 1200 years) and height of over 300 feet (91 m).^[7] In addition, the longer Peters Creek Loop offers backpackers and hikers willing to traverse 11.9 miles (19.2 km) roundtrip the opportunity to witness some of the oldest and tallest redwoods in the San Francisco Bay Area.^[8]

Portola Redwoods State Park contains approximately 18 miles of hiking trails in the 2,800-acre park, a small car-camping campground of about 50 campsites, four group campsites, and 6 trail sites at Slate Creek Trail Camp. Portola Redwoods State Park is also home to the site of Page shingle Mill, for which

Name

The name of the state park was suggested by Aubrey Drury at a Park Commission meeting and was adopted on motion of Commissioner Leo Carrillo, a descendant of members of the Portolá expedition.^[9]

References