Southern Redwood Botanical Area

The Southern Redwood Botanical Area (also known as Southern Redwood Special Interest Area) is a 17 acres (6.9 ha) ecological preserve in the southern region of Big Sur in Monterey County, California, just north of the national forest's Salmon Creek trailhead.^[1] Established by the Los Padres National Forest of the United States Forest Service, it contains the southernmost naturally occurring Redwood.^[2] The trees are located in the Little Redwood Gulch watershed adjacent to the Silver Peak Wilderness. The area is just north of the Salmon Creek trailhead.^[3][4]

Southern Redwood Botanical Area
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Location	Big Sur, California, United States
Nearest city	Big Sur, California
Coordinates	35°49′42″N 121°23′14″W
Governing body	United States Forest Service

In 2008, scientist J. Michael Fay published a map of the old growth redwoods based on his transect of the entire redwood range.^[5] The southernmost tree is about 15 feet (4.6 m) from Highway 1. The reserve is 7 miles (11 km) north of San Carpoforo Creek. It is unmarked and is not open to the public.^[6][7][8][9] The botanical area is classified as a special interest area under Title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 294.1(a) due to its unique botanical resources for public and scientific purposes.^[10][11]

See also

• Sequoia sempervirens

• Big Sur

References

1. "SEQUOIA sempervirens". andyswebtools.com. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
2. "Los Padres National Forest - Nature & Science". Los Padres National Forest. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
3. "Coast Redwood: Los Padres ForestWatch". www.lpfw.org. Los Padres Forestwatch. Archived from the original on 29 May 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
4. "Los Padres National Forest". Redwoodhikes.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-28. Retrieved 2012-08-07.
5. Fay, J. Michael (September 30, 2008). "Redwood Transect-Big Sur Redwoods 2.0". Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. Retrieved January 1, 2009.
6. Valle, Gary (14 June 2013). "Coast Redwoods Along the French Trail in Redwood Regional Park". Photography on the Run. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
7. "Southernmost Redwoods, California - 360-degree VR Panoramas". 360panos.com. Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
8. "Coast Redwood : Los Padres ForestWatch". www.lpfw.org. Archived from the original on 29 May 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
9. "Photography on the Run: Calflora/Google Maps image of coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) distribution in California. The southernmost naturally-occurring coast redwoods are in Monterey County, in the Southern Redwood Botanical Area of Los Padres National Forest". photographyontherun.com. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
10. Land and Resource Management Plan: Los Padres National Forest : Draft Forest Plan. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region, Los Padres National Forest. 1986. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
11. "36 CFR § 294.1 - Recreation areas". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 17 April 2020.