• Russell Varian Legacy
• Andrew P. Hill Historic House
• The 'Original' Mountain Echo
• Historic Saratoga Toll Road Hike

Russell Varian's Conservation Legacy (from The Mountain Echo, Winter, 2001)

Among those who found refuge in the Santa Cruz Mountains in the early 20th Century was John Varian of Palo Alto, who took his family and friends on hiking expeditions around Castle Rock. One of his sons, Russell, worked to preserve the area from development.

By the time the Second World War had ended, Russell Varian was a successful scientist and inventor of both the klystron power tube and microwave radio tube. In 1948, he co-founded Varian Associates, a pioneering high-tech company in the heart of what is now known as Silicon Valley. There is no irony in the fact that a man who lived in a world of technology devoted so much of his life to preserving and enhancing nature. In fact, the wilderness was one of the most important wellsprings of his creativity.

Upon Varian's death in 1959, the first twenty-seven acres of the future Castle Rock park were acquired with money donated in his memory. In 1968, a 513-acre parcel was dedicated as the first segment of the park. By 1999, Sempervirens Fund had been able to bring more than 3,000 additional acres under the park's protection.

Fittingly, it was the exceptionally generous $500,000 gift of the Varian Family Foundation in October, 2000 that marked the start of Sempervirens Fund's campaign to secure permanent protection for the magnificent San Lorenzo River Redwoods as part of Castle Rock State Park.

Restoration of Andrew P. Hill's Historic House (from The Mountain Echo, Summer, 2000)

Andrew P. Hill founded the redwood preservation movement and the Sempervirens Club in 1900. Ironically, the Victorian home he lived in at the time was made from--what else?--redwood! It survives today thanks to the inherent longevity of redwood as a splendid building material and the efforts of the Victorian Preservation Association (VPA) of Santa Clara Valley.

The three-bedroom Victorian cottage was originally located on Sherman St., south of downtown San Jose. In 1995, it was scheduled for demolition. Members of the Victorian Preservation Association had been looking for a house project to help show the San Jose and Silicon Valley community the value of these older homes. So when the historic Andrew P. Hill house was available, VPA acted quickly to save it. In February of 1997, the house made its short journey to the San Jose Historical Museum at Kelly Park. After several years of getting plans approved, work has finally begun on the house's restoration. The VPA was founded in the late '70s out of concern that San Jose was losing its stock of Victorian homes to redevelopment. Members of the VPA share an interest in restoring and living in older homes.

When restoration is completed, one room of the house will be dedicated to his painting and photographic work, and the history of the Sempervirens Club/Fund. By publicizing the work of the Fund through displays in the house, the VPA expects to direct new members and support to Sempervirens Fund. Contact Victorian Preservation Association at hillhouse@vpa.org with your questions or contributions of money, materials or labor for the project. The VPA website is www.vpa.org. 

From the "Original" Mountain Echo--1896-1916 (from The Mountain Echo, March 1974)
By Jennie Verardo

"The original Mountain Echo, begun in 1896, was published in Boulder Creek every Saturday until 1916. The Echo dealt mainly with local news, and its editor, W. S. Rodgers, like most small-town newspaper editors, knew almost everything that was going on in his community. Since the Echo was in its hey-day about the time of the acquisition of the park in Big Basin, its pages reflect local attitudes toward the new 'California State Park.'

After overcoming his initial fears that the creation of a state park in the Big Basin would ruin the major industry in Boulder Creek -- lumbering -- W. S. Rodgers not only approved of the park idea, but became one of its most ardent supporters. He was active in the acquisition of the Big Basin and became one of the charter members of the Boulder Creek chapter of the Sempervirens Club.

The Mountain Echo died in 1916, but 'Daddy' Rodgers lived to be 97 years old, and, before he died in the 1940's, was able to witness the expansion of Big Basin. He once commented in an editorial that he had built the trail that was to be called 'Trail Beautiful' as a means of taking tan bark out of the Big Basin, and what a better purpose it was now being put to. He was a man who had come to love the park."

Historic Saratoga Toll Road Hike (from The Mountain Echo, Spring 2001)

Hiking and horseback access through the western quarter of the San Lorenzo River Redwoods is now available over the Historic Saratoga Toll Road Trail. Enjoy a hike and see a portion of what your gifts are protecting. The trail was originally built in 1867 as a private toll road to connect the Santa Clara Valley with the Saratoga summit. It was extended in 1871 through the San Lorenzo River Redwoods to the outskirts of Boulder Creek in Santa Cruz County.

The route was always difficult to maintain as a two-lane road; when a state road was needed in 1915 to get tourists to the new Big Basin Redwoods State Park, the old road was bypassed and State Highway 9 was built parallel to it on the ridgetop. Saratoga Toll Road became a Santa Cruz County road in 1945, and through the efforts of Sempervirens Fund and the State Parks Department it has been open as a hiking trail since 1984.

The Toll Road Trail begins near Saratoga Gap, the intersection of Hwy 9 and Hwy 35 above Saratoga. It coincides with the Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail for 1/2 mile and then diverges for about 8 miles down through Castle Rock State Park and the San Lorenzo River Redwoods, rejoining the Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail about 2 miles from Big Basin Redwoods State Park. On the way it offers a few vistas of the San Lorenzo River and its surrounding watershed.

For the moment, public access is limited to the trail easement only. The Sempervirens Fund Trail Map of the Santa Cruz Mountains (Map 1), available through Wilderness Press, clearly shows the Toll Road Trail. To order the Trail Map, please call Wilderness Press at (510) 558-1666. Sempervirens Fund Members can get a free excerpt from that map showing just the Saratoga Toll Road and San Lorenzo River Redwoods, by requesting it from our office: redwoods at sempervirens.org.