COMING SOON-- WORKSHOPS
What really goes in the blue bin
--and what doesn't
Deepen your outdoor experience
--Use a topo map and compass
COMING SOON-- PHOTO GALLERY
Browse photos of a coming tour
--or of the tour you just took
ARMCHAIR TOUR!
Movie: Monumental: David Brower's Fight for Wild America
--Chronicles the life and times of David Brower, the Sierra Club's legendary first Executive Director.
--An avid mountain climber, he led campaigns to protect national parks and other wildlands in the 1950s through the 1990s.
-- He inspired millions of Americans to become environmentalists!
Book: California's Wild Gardens: A Living Legacy
--From the California Native Plant Society (www.cnps.org)
--If you lived to be 100 and hiked every day throughout California, you couldn't see as many species of wildflowers and different habitats as in this beautiful book. A biodiversity feast for the eyes!
Music: Beethoven's 6th Symphony, the Pastoral
--By Ludwig von Beethoven
--Portions of this symphony, composed two centuries ago, provide the soundtrack for parts of Walt Disney's animated 1940 film, Fantasia. Whether you've seen it or not, hear the entire masterpiece that paints a peaceful rural landscape in music, as a storm moves over it.
TOUR TIP
Summer in the San Francisco Bay Area means lower temperatures at the coast and hot temperatures inland. Always carry water, and dress in layers, because the day can warm up, then cool off again before sunset. It can be 60 degrees F., windy, and cool on the Golden Gate Bridge at the same time it's 97 degrees F., hot, and no wind at Mount Diablo, just 30 miles inland!
CUSTOMIZE
Not sure which tour is right for you? Special event coming up? A topic you're especially interested in?
Let us create a tour just for you!
Learn more today.
ECO-HISTORY FACT
Back in 1875 logger William Waddell became the San Francisco Bay Area's last man to be killed by a grizzly bear. You can retrace his final steps along the waterway named after him, Waddell Creek, on our Redwoods and Waterfalls Walking (or mountain bike) Tour.
No worries about marauding grizzlies, though -- the Bay Area's last grizzly was shot at Bonny Doon Mountain, only a few miles away from Waddell Creek, in 1886. The grizzly is California's official state animal, seen on the state flag, but it's been extinct in California since the 1920s!
Waddell Creek is also a great place for an easy 2-day backpack trip in the redwoods -- only three miles each way, and no uphill. If you're interested, let us know when you'd like to go.
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Big Basin Redwoods Easy Backpack at CaliforniaNatureTours.com
Big Basin Redwoods Easy Backpacking Trip
Big Basin Redwoods Backpack is an easy 3-mile trek (each way) along a creek shaded by towering redwoods to a trail camp. With no hill climbs, it's perfect for beginners. It starts at the coast, skirts a wetland, passes a small farm, then heads through the redwoods to our quiet creekside campsite in this gentle wilderness.
Backpack Coast to Forest with Low Miles & No Big Hills
- Easy 2day intro to backpacking
- From the shore into the redwoods
- Follow the flowing creek, no uphill
- Includes meals but not gear
- 12yrs, 6m/10k, 2days
- $89 USD
- Big Basin Redwoods State Park in Santa Cruz County CA
FAQ, Contact David
Easy-going Creek Trail 3 Miles a Day, 2 Days Total
Backpacking in the redwoods is no sweat when you start at Big Basin State Park's coastal entrance and follow the creekside trail inland. The redwood forest is shady, cool and quiet, except for birdsong and the soft murmur of the water, and the ground is soft. Big Basin's redwoods are just as tall, beautiful, and extensive as Redwood National Park on California's distant North Coast, but only an hour from San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
Big Basin became California's first state park in 1902, the first redwood forest to be saved for future generations. It's been expanded over the years to include 28 square miles of redwoods, and it's surrounded by more than ten times that much forested land in the Santa Cruz Mountains. In the center of all this, you can still feel the rejuvenating effect experienced by the first park campers when they came here in horse-drawn wagons more than a century ago. For the first day, bring your own lunch, and we'll provide dinner. On the second day, we'll provide breakfast and lunch.
Meet at: Parking lot on north side of Waddell Creek Bridge, Waddell Creek Beach, 3600 Highway 1, Davenport CA.
FAQ, Contact David
DON'T WANT EASY PACKBACKING IN BIG BASIN REDWOODS STATE PARK?
Below are the top six tours. Or see QuickView list of All Tours.
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Action Alert
Help Save Bay Area's Greenbelt!
If you enjoy the San Francisco Bay Area's natural beauty, you should find out how local residents have been working together to preserve it since 1958 with the Greenbelt Alliance -- and if you live in California, get involved!
The redwoods were AMAZING! . . . a truly magical experience . . . I felt transported to another world, every step
yielding amazing sights, and
David has so much knowledge
about the flora and fauna
as well as local and national history . . .
I highly recommend David's unique personalised tours . . .
You'll remember it always, I know I will!
Kim H.
Manchester, England
I was thrilled to find
California Nature Tours--
a San Francisco Bay treasure!
My tours to Muir Woods and
Point Reyes National Seashore
were relaxing, educational, and just magnificent.
I highly recommend David Schmidt and California Nature Tours.
You will come away feeling great and knowing you have seen California through the eyes of someone extraordinary.
You will love it!
Ms. G. K.
Washington, D.C.
Thank you David, for your
hike at China Camp.
It was a beautiful setting and we saw deer at close range.
But what made it especially interesting & memorable was your knowledge of the area.
Thanks again and regards,
Ms. A.V.
Oakland, CA
In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.
John Muir
The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.
John Muir
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