A mystical place in California called Shady Dell is home to a redwood grove that defies faith.
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image: Mike Shoys
California’s stunning Lost Coast is probably one of the most pristine natural coastlines you can find in the US. On this part of the northern California coast spanning Huöldt and Mendocino counties, including the King Range, there are barely any traces of human intervention in the landscape. In the 1930s, the area experienced depopulation, as it would have been too expensive to build a state highway or even county roads there due to the steepness and related geotechnical challenges of the coastal mountains, hence the name “Lost Coast.” ”. Today, it is the most remote and undeveloped part of the California coast that is home to some amazing natural landscapes.
In the heart of this untouched wilderness, in the Shady Dell Forest in Sinkyone Wilderness State Park, there is a small, rather strange-looking hillside of impressively repeating ancient redwood trees shaped like candelabras. Just a few feet above the ground, the trees appear to have split into a dozen trunks, each rising into the sky like enormous candelabras.
While redwoods typically grow upward, the unique shape of these trees is due to stressors (strong winds and salt air) that cause them to sprout branches close to the ground. Then, when conditions improved, the branches grew upward, forming secondary (repeating) trunks.
Image credit: Redwood Hikes
The forest also has some smaller redwoods, but all the redwoods are widely reiterated and there are no signs of logging. In fact, twisted trees are likely to survive today because they wouldn’t be very good for wood.
The medieval “Enchanted Forest,” as locals know it, is important to forestry science. “We know that these twisted branches and oddly shaped trees create necessary habitat for wildlife,” said Emily Burns, PhD, League Science Director. “We have a lot to learn from these trees. “Its development offers clues about how the environment shapes redwood forests.”
Image credit: Redwood Hikes
In addition to the candelabra-shaped coast redwoods, Shady Dell’s diverse ecosystem includes a rich variety of other plants and wildlife such as salmon, longear, Rooseelt elk, and mountain lions, as well as some unique flowers called “mycotrophs” that, Unlike green plants, they depend on fungi for food.
The redwood forest can be accessed via the 2.3-mile-long Peter Douglas Trail, created in 2016.
