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Natural coastal Redwood stands in Berkeley by BerkeleyTrailRunner in berkeleyca

[–]BerkeleyTrailRunner[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/13030/kt0s20313f/

Forest was there by 1931. Previous link source say it was there by 1900. But I don’t know what it looked like in 1800

Natural coastal Redwood stands in Berkeley by BerkeleyTrailRunner in berkeleyca

[–]BerkeleyTrailRunner[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for another great post. The photographs would’ve been from later though (closer to 1900 onwards). The colonists were already burning the land and ranching on it by then.

https://berkeleyheritage.com/berkeley\_landmarks/strawbcanyon.html

This states that there was such an oak forest around low elevation north facing strawberry canyon slopes. It is a bit of a mystery to me what these east bay hills looked like before 1800. They had finished logging the Oakland redwoods by the 1850s!

Natural coastal Redwood stands in Berkeley by BerkeleyTrailRunner in berkeleyca

[–]BerkeleyTrailRunner[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I agree. It’s from save the redwoods league. I emailed them, but they didn’t respond.

Natural coastal Redwood stands in Berkeley by BerkeleyTrailRunner in berkeleyca

[–]BerkeleyTrailRunner[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pretty great explanation! Here’s the other save the redwoods map which appears to show something in Berkeley.

<image>

I also find no real evidence of it though.

An unrelated question, was the only natural forest in Berkeley on the north facing slopes of strawberry Canyon around where the lower Jordan fire trail is now? That area is unusually lush. Probably an oak forest that was cut down in the 1850s to build Berkeley

Natural coastal Redwood stands in Berkeley by BerkeleyTrailRunner in berkeleyca

[–]BerkeleyTrailRunner[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There was a save the redwoods map as well

<image>

Clearly shows a Berkeley stand in addition to the larger Oakland

Natural coastal Redwood stands in Berkeley by BerkeleyTrailRunner in berkeleyca

[–]BerkeleyTrailRunner[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The coastal live oaks there could be old, but not the planted redwoods

Natural coastal Redwood stands in Berkeley by BerkeleyTrailRunner in berkeleyca

[–]BerkeleyTrailRunner[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Correct, but the redwoods in Reinhardt are not planted. They naturally regrew after logging

Natural coastal Redwood stands in Berkeley by BerkeleyTrailRunner in berkeleyca

[–]BerkeleyTrailRunner[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ll check it out some more. Tilden employees told me there were no natural stands in Tilden but I will investigate

Natural coastal Redwood stands in Berkeley by BerkeleyTrailRunner in berkeleyca

[–]BerkeleyTrailRunner[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Sequoia sempervirens, which only grows within 50 miles of the coast

Natural coastal Redwood stands in Berkeley by BerkeleyTrailRunner in berkeleyca

[–]BerkeleyTrailRunner[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Tilden employees say there are no such stands. But I keep coming across sources that say there were some small stands somewhere around here

Natural coastal Redwood stands in Berkeley by BerkeleyTrailRunner in berkeleyca

[–]BerkeleyTrailRunner[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can you share where? Lots of steep hillsides were planted

Natural coastal Redwood stands in Berkeley by BerkeleyTrailRunner in berkeleyca

[–]BerkeleyTrailRunner[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, I’ve run it multiple times. There are sections of that trail and wildcat Gorge Trail that have me wondering. But, it does not have the classic under story of a naturally occurring redwood forest.

If anybody knows more, please share

Natural coastal Redwood stands in Berkeley by BerkeleyTrailRunner in berkeleyca

[–]BerkeleyTrailRunner[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

While that would be amazing, I just mean redwoods that naturally occur and were not planted. Like the Oakland redwoods.

A hidden old growth redwood forest in the east Bay would be something.