Big Basin is Coming Back. Here's What to Know Before You Go.
A Park in the Middle of Rebuilding Itself
If you knew Big Basin before the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex fire, you knew California's oldest state park—over 18,000 acres of ancient redwoods, the Berry Creek Falls trail, campgrounds that people returned to for decades. The fire moved through almost all of it. The park headquarters burned. Hundreds of trees fell. Many of the trails that people had hiked for generations were closed for months, then years, as crews worked through the damage and the regrowth.
Big Basin is not fully back yet. I want to be clear about that, because people who haven't checked recently sometimes show up expecting the park they remember. But what is back is genuinely remarkable. The redwoods survived—most of them, including the ancient ones in the grove near the old park headquarters. Redwoods are built for fire. They have bark that resists burning and root systems that push new growth almost immediately after damage. The burned, regenerating forest is its own kind of beautiful, and worth seeing on its own terms rather than just as a diminished version of what was there before.
What's Open in Summer 2026
More than 14 miles of trails and 25 miles of fire roads are currently open, with more being added as crews complete restoration work. The shuttle service returned for summer 2026, running on weekends and holidays from an overflow parking area at Saddle Mountain to the main day-use area near the park's historic core. Check the park's current trail status at CA State Parks before you go—access is still evolving and the most current information is there.
The Trails Worth Seeking Out
The Redwood Trail through the old-growth grove near the park center is as good as it ever was. Standing in that grove—with trees that were old before California was a state, many of them showing char marks at the base but thriving overhead—is a particular kind of experience that's hard to replicate anywhere else on the planet. The Sunset Trail connects into the canyon areas and offers views of the burned-and-recovering landscape that make the ecology of the place feel very immediate.
The Berry Creek Falls trail—the full 11-mile loop that used to be one of the park's signature hikes—remains partially closed while sections are being rebuilt. Check trail status before you plan a specific route. Things are changing regularly as crews finish work.
The Long-Term Vision
The people working on Big Basin's future aren't just rebuilding what was there. The Reimagining Big Basin project is rethinking the park for the next hundred years—moving the main visitor center away from the old-growth grove to reduce impact on the trees, building new facilities at Saddle Mountain, and improving access and equity across the park. Phase one of the plan is projected to take at least five years. This is a long-term project, not a quick fix—which is appropriate for a park that's been there for over a hundred years and will be there for a hundred more.
Why It Matters for Mountain Homeowners and Buyers
Big Basin is part of the identity of this place. When I show properties near Boulder Creek, Brookdale, or the Ben Lomond-to-Felton corridor, buyers who care about outdoor access always ask about it. The answer in 2026 is better than it was in 2022 or 2023—more open, more accessible, more of what made it special still visible. And the ongoing restoration is something that increases the long-term value of living up here.
If you haven't been since before the fire, or if you've been waiting for it to be more like it was, this summer is a reasonable time to go. Bring the shuttle plan, bring water, and give yourself time to just be in it without a checklist. That's the whole point of the place.