California State Parks Acquires 153-Acre NoraBella property from Sempervirens Fund, Permanently Expanding Big Basin Redwoods State Park

Keystone property for Reimagining Big Basin plan after 2020 CZU wildfire is first addition to the park in 15 years

Aerial view of Big Basin State Park’s NoraBella property, the Gateway to Big Basin, a 153-acre redwood forest along Highway 236. 
Photo: Jordan Plotsky

BOULDER CREEK —Today, California State Parks and Sempervirens Fund, California’s first redwoods conservation land trust, announced the permanent addition of the 153-acre NoraBella property to expand Big Basin Redwoods State Park in Boulder Creek. The $2.415 million acquisition is the first for Big Basin since State Parks acquired the Little Basin property from Sempervirens Fund and the Peninsula Open Space Trust in 2011.

“Big Basin is California’s oldest state park, and this keystone expansion will help accelerate the park’s recovery from the devastating 2020 CZU wildfire while supporting the Newsom administration’s Outdoors for All and 30×30 initiatives,” said California State Parks Director Armando Quintero. “NoraBella is the gateway into Big Basin and will serve as a world-class entrance to the park’s new visitor center for generations to come.”

NoraBella, also known as the Gateway to Big Basin, was a priority for protection even before the 2020 CZU wildfire, due to its thriving natural ecosystems. It has continued to be a priority acquisition for State Parks after the fire as being a key to the park’s general plan for improving visitor-serving facilities.

Sempervirens Fund, founded in 1900, was instrumental in establishing Big Basin in 1902 and has worked with State Parks to protect most of the park’s now 18,376 acres.

“The land, habitats, waterways, and redwoods at NoraBella have been through so much over more than a century—from clearcutting, to being treated like a junkyard, to the CZU wildfire—and it feels like redemption to finally secure the forest’s future as part of Big Basin,” said Sempervirens Fund Executive Director Sara Barth. “Even before the 2020 wildfire, we knew NoraBella would provide a dramatic entranceway to Big Basin, and enhance the conservation values of the park.”

A redwoods conservation priority
At the turn of the 20th century, the property was almost entirely clear-cut of redwood trees. A century later, the entire 153-acre NoraBella property is forested across three ridges down into creeks, waterfalls and canyons, forming a miniature basin of its own next to Big Basin. NoraBella includes a primary tributary to the headwaters for Boulder Creek, which is a tributary to the San Lorenzo River. Among wildlife observed on the property are mountain lions and gray foxes.

“NoraBella is a conservation gem,” added David Cowman, Sempervirens Fund’s director of land stewardship. “Permanent protection of NoraBella as part of Big Basin is critical to ensure the long-term health of the Boulder Creek watershed and the San Lorenzo River system it supports. The property has abundant and healthy stands of redwoods, as well as mixed evergreen forests of Douglas-fir, coast live oaks, tan oaks and madrones.”

Reimagining Big Basin
In response to the destruction of the CZU wildfire, State Parks is engaging in a considerable and first-of-its-kind planning effort to reimagine a state park. With nearly all of the park’s facilities, infrastructure and trails lost or badly damaged by the fire, State Parks has worked collaboratively to establish a new vision for the park, new management plans for the park’s natural resources, a new facilities plan to guide rebuilding the park’s future infrastructure, and a forthcoming trails plan to guide the park’s renewed recreational experiences for visitors.

This year, State Parks expects to adopt the Facilities Management Plan, a General Plan Amendment, and Supplemental Environmental Impact Report that have been prepared to implement the renewed vision for the park. State Parks will then begin to design each of the buildings, including the new visitor center and recreational facilities such as campgrounds, in phases, in preparation to rebuild. Visit reimaginingbigbasin.org to learn about upcoming opportunities to engage with the planning effort.

The Saddle Mountain Welcome Area and NoraBella
A key part of the Reimaging Big Basin Vision includes establishing a welcome center at Saddle Mountain, which borders the NoraBella property, and providing shuttle service for park visitors from there and from further outside the park into the old-growth area on busy weekends. With these facilities located at Saddle Mountain, the parking and buildings in the heart of the old-growth area can be much smaller, which in turn reduces the impact those facilities have on the surrounding sensitive old-growth redwood forest. Portions of the adjacent NoraBella property also offer locations to build some of the park’s necessary operations facilities, making the acquisition important for rebuilding the park as well as for conservation.

Unique Recent History of NoraBella
In addition to its abundance of natural and scenic features, NoraBella is also known for its previous ownership by Roy Kaylor, who collected cars and other objects that lined roads throughout the property. Kaylor, featured on a 2011 episode of the A&E show Hoarders, also battled the county over the cleanup of debris and chemicals leaching on the property. Verve Coffee Roasters co-founder Colby Barr purchased the property from Santa Cruz County in June 2020. Environmental assessments completed by Barr and Sempervirens Fund confirmed the NoraBella property, including the streams, have a clean bill of health. Sempervirens purchased the property from Barr in February 2021. State Parks purchased the property in 2026 partially with funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund through the U.S. Department of Interior and the California Department of Parks and Recreation.

Sempervirens is especially thankful to the more than 1,100 donors who helped fund the $2,415,000 purchase of NoraBella in 2021, including the Lipman Family Foundation, the Feldman family in memory of Carl Feldman, Brian Krawez and the team and clients at Scharf Investments, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

More to Come
The expansion of Big Basin Redwoods State Park is one example of how the state and partners have made it a priority to establish places for people and nature to thrive. New legislation signed into law by Governor Newsom (AB 679, 2025 Pellerin) will further strengthen California’s commitment by streamlining the acquisition of properties adjacent to Big Basin Redwoods, Butano, and Año Nuevo state parks. State Parks looks forward to announcing these new acquisitions that expand outdoor connections, advance climate resilience, protect California’s natural and cultural resources, and strengthen the state’s economy.