Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park Visitor Center — Attraction in Scotts Valley

Visited on September 24th, 2023. We didn't plan to stay long, so a less-than-one-mile loop sounded perfect. We walked one round clockwise, then one round counter clockwise. We took some pictures and saw a banana slug. It was an easy walk.I was impressed by the size of those trees. Glad I asked if the walking tour at 12 pm was on.Glad it did. Billy started the tour with only two of us, but soon we were joined by a few more visitors. It turned out we only did half of the loop twice before and missed some interesting spots. Billy went through all of them, and explained in detail, I kept asking questions during the walk, Billy patiently answered them all. Bit by bit, I understood the park, the trees, and the people more, Gradually, I was in awe of them, especially the resilience of the redwood: to be able to survive thousands of years, you do need more than just good luck. Thank you Billy for taking us on a journey that I would likely never forget. It was educational and inspirational. Also thanks for the tips to take a good picture of these...

The Redwood Grove was a short loop that is nice for walks. It has a leveled terrain and has a portalet halfway into the trail. There's a water dispenser for washing hands too. From there you could hear the train but we weren't able to go there as the park is quite big and it took as about two hours of leisure walking to cover the Redwood Grove and the Meadow Trail. The latter trail was ab easy one too, with a narrower path that will take you to the river. Then going back you can take the River Trail which runs alongside the river. There's a bit of a clearing right by the parking area where you can go to see the river up close. On a Sunday it wasn't very crowded until around 10 to 11am. So early mornings are probably the best time to go. As we were leaving the park at 11:40am, there was a long line of cars entering it. Some also park around the perimeter of the park so as not to pay for parking. This lets you access the trails, too, if you're up for...

Love this area. We went here instead of the actual Redwood Forest because it was too far north. We went into San Fran for the weekend but didn’t buy into the tourist packages to certain places that we can see for free. This stop was on the way home for us. It’s not as crowded and there was a shop that was open but was closed by the time we got out of the walk. Speaking of walks, you can get a guided tour to get all the bits of cool info not just about the trees, but about how the property was once privately owned. We were told there was once a hotel that stood on a part of the property but a redwood had grown around it. The only part “standing” is a window but in order for you to see it, you must go inside the trunk of the tree with a good flashlight. There is also a file you can view from your phone. Each area is numbered and coincides with what you can read in...