Cascade Creek – Facts

Key Facts

1. Cascade Creek provides critical linkage between Big Basin Redwoods State Park and Año Nuevo State Park, supporting the League’s goal of safeguarding contiguous redwood habitat from the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Pacific Ocean.

• Cascade Creek may be transferred to California State Parks in the future for addition to Big Basin Redwoods State Park or Año Nuevo State Park, allowing for watershed-scale protection and management strategies.

2. Cascade Creek has more than 100 acres of old-growth redwoods and numerous stands of large second-growth redwoods. 

• Researchers studied four of the old-growth trees and dated them between 420 and 528 years old. They also identified a 100-year-old second-growth tree that has grown remarkably fast—it is now larger than and nearly as tall as the oldest tree studied.
• Pygmy redwoods have been found along the north-south ridgeline down the center of the property where the soil is much more sandy and dry.

3. The creek and property are named after the beautiful 50-foot Cascade Falls just south of the property.

4. About the flora and fauna:

• Endangered marbled murrelets may use the ancient trees on the property for nesting, and the big, gnarly limbs that they prefer appear to be intact after the fire.
• The property provides habitat that can support a wide array of wildlife, from mountain lions to rough-skinned newts.
• Cascade Creek is home to a rich diversity of vascular plants—scientists have observed 38 species at their study site.
• Cascade Creek’s understory supports western swordferns, plants that League scientists have used as indicators of how drought is affecting the forests.
• The understory also features redwood sorrel and trillium.
• Manzanita, pine, and madrone trees grow on siltstone locally called “chalks.” The road that runs through the property is called Chalks Road.

5. While the Holmes family milled second-growth and third-growth trees at their sawmills in Humboldt and Santa Cruz counties, they are enthusiastic advocates for protecting old-growth redwoods. In 2012, the family worked with the League to protect old-growth redwoods on their properties in the nearby Peters Creek and Boulder Creek drainages.

6. The purchase price—$9 million—is well below the market price for the land, underscoring the commitment of the Holmes family to redwood conservation.

• Our post-fire assessments indicate that the land and timber values have held, so the purchase price of $9 million remains the same. 

7. While this forest is resilient and will recover over time, there were effects of significant burning throughout the property. 

• Many of the redwoods were at least top-killed.
• The forest is already showing signs of recovery, with understory plants sprouting back and stems sprouting from the trunks and branches of the redwoods.
• With the loss of ancient Douglas-fir trees, which do not sprout, the forest will look different for many years, and Douglas-fir trees won’t be a component of the forest until new ones establish and grow.

FAQ