Skip to content
Verónica smiles looking up at the canopy while sitting in a ray of sunshine on a bench in the sun dappled redwood forest, courtesy of Latino Outdoors

Exploring Trails and Their Benefits: Vamos Outdoors

It might be called The Great Outdoors for several reasons. It can be beautiful. It can be fun. It can be inspiring. But did you know that it can also be great for your health?

Hit the trail with our partners at Latino Outdoors to explore the beauty and benefits of the places you help us protect in the Santa Cruz mountains, and learn how visiting these places can help protect you. Let’s vamos outdoors!

Read More
An illustration of hands cupping acorns, cones, and wildflowers with flames dancing up to silhouetted redwood trees against a dark orange sun on a smokey background, by Jane Kim, Ink Dwell

The Opposite of Redwoods

Redwoods drew artist Jane Kim to California more than 20 years ago and today she returns the favor, drawing redwoods to help people better connect with and draw inspiration from the natural world around us. The more she learns about redwoods as Sempervirens Fund’s first Forest Fellow, the more she contemplates people as redwoods’ exact opposite. Get a sneak peek at her new art and how she hopes celebrating redwood adaptations can inspire us to adapt to our ecosystem rather than change it.

Read More
The shady, flat dirt Redwood Grove Loop trail edged by a low fence and sun dappled redwoods leads into the old-growth grove of trees at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, by Verónica Silva-Miranda

Healing Under Redwood Groves

“I’ve known for years that I struggled with high blood pressure, I would feel a pressure in my arm or my hands would start to throb or go numb. I learned to step away from what I was doing at that time and sit in a quiet space, close my eyes and think about what brings me peace; the redwood forest.” Hit the trail with Verónica Silva-Miranda, Latino Outdoors volunteer, to learn how the forest helps her navigate health challenges in her photo essay.

Read More

DEIJ Reading List

As we work to achieve our mission to protect redwoods and create public access to lands, it is critical to center Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) across all of our work. As we move forward on this journey, our staff have shared some of the books that have served as guideposts for their own DEIJ journeys as we embark on this work together.

Read More

Back to (Nature) School

Whether it’s camping, hiking, going to the beach, or attending camp, connecting with nature doesn’t have to end with summer. In fact, it’s incredibly helpful to our physical, mental, and social health to maintain our connection to nature and experience it often. We spoke with outdoor educators at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History about resources to help us feed our curiosity and connection with nature.

Read More
Counselor leads youth hiking to the Valley of the Giants at Camp Jones Gulch. Boys look up toward gisant redwoods with awe and smiles on their faces.

Camp Jones Gulch: Childhood Connections Create Conservationists

Camp Jones Gulch has sparked a passion for the outdoors for thousands of young people. We talked with campers and the Y of San Francisco’s outdoor education leaders about how protecting Camp Jones Gulch protects critical, diverse habitats, and outdoor education and opportunities with exponential impact for the environmental movement.

Read More
End Of Rain DSC03767 By Scott Ordway

The End of Rain

As temperatures soar, droughts become more frequent, and fire seasons lengthen, does it change how we see the land? Scott Ordway, an award-winning composer and multimedia artist, explored those questions and shared his reflections through words, sounds, and images with the hope that art experiences like these can help strengthen connections with nature–the basis for action.

Read More
Land Director Laura McLendon surveys Big Basin State Park with Rangers after the CZU Fire.

Reimagining Big Basin

In August 2021, a year after the CZU fire, California State Parks launched a visioning process for Reimagining Big Basin. A year later, they have a vision for the park’s future. Learn more, connect, and stay involved.

Read More
Camp Jones Gulch Sign By YMCA San Francisco

Camp Jones Gulch: A Partnership for Youth and Nature

Some of the oldest redwoods in the Santa Cruz mountains thrive at a YMCA camp with the oldest history of inclusion—Camp Jones Gulch. We sat down with Jamie Bruning-Miles, President and CEO for The Y of San Francisco, to talk about how, together, we are expanding youth access to nature.

Read More
Accessibility Guide Bob Coomber 4 Wheel Bob By Ian Bornarth

Accessibility in the Santa Cruz Mountains

We are showcasing accessible trails in the Santa Cruz mountains, and we talked with Bob Coomber–the renowned hiker “4 Wheel Bob”, lifelong admirer of redwoods, and member of the State Parks Recreational Trails Commission–to discuss his experiences with accessibility and how he has overcome challenges to explore the outdoors far beyond where the paved trail ends.

Read More

Stay Connected

CLOSE

PROTECT REDWOODS

Your gift TRIPLED on

and MATCHED up to $50,000.
Match My Gift