In 2020, the CZU Lightning Complex Fire severely damaged the trails within Big Basin State Park, California’s oldest State Park. Over 97% of the park burned, destroying infrastructure, historic old-growth trees, and trails. Since then, State Parks, the California Conservation Corps, and other organizations have undertaken fuel reduction and trail reconstruction efforts to restore the park to pre-fire conditions.
From June 2024 to November 2024, our crews have been working with State Parks trail staff for ten back-to-back spikes. These were eight-day trips where 12 corpsmembers and two supervisors would camp out in the park and work on the historic trails within Big Basin.
Corpsmembers began to help the park recover from a local disaster. Check out the video below, showcasing all their hard work!
Corpsmembers cleared out hazardous trees, brush, wood debris, and cut down overgrown vegetation that had appeared in the years since. They also built bridges to further enhance the trails.
The work accomplished has made the trails more resilient to future wildfires. The clearing and re-establishment of drainages and footbridges will be helpful in opening these trails to the public, allowing local community members and visiting individuals to see how the California landscape can recover from wildfires.
Corpsmembers gained hands-on experience in building burn piles, stashing, and scattering materials, as well as constructing steps, rock retaining walls, and assembling footbridges damaged by the 2020 fire. For many, this was their first experience with trail reconstruction and maintenance, and several demonstrated a solid understanding of the hard work.
They worked on more than 19,000 linear feet of trail, cleared over 7 acres of land, and removed around 123 large hazard trees, along with countless smaller shrubs and vegetation. They also constructed multiple structures, including turnpikes, steps, and 85 cubic feet of retaining walls made from repurposed materials, wood, and logs.
The following trails were worked on to reopen: Sunset Connector, Hihn Hammond Connector Trail, Skyline to the Sea, and Bloom Creek Trail.
The following trails were worked on for maintenance and cleaning up: Creeping Forest, Meteor Trail, Skyline to the Sea, Creeping Forest Trail, Dool Trail, Meteor Trail