See the regrowth: Big Basin time-lapse video shows remarkable recovery of redwood forest from massive wildfire
When the CZU Lightning Complex Fire burned through Big Basin Redwoods State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains in August 2020, it blackened 97% of the land in California’s oldest state park, radically altering the awe-inspiring old-growth redwood forests that have been enjoyed for generations of families since the park opened in 1902.
Scientists at Northern Arizona University placed a camera in a redwood tree in April 2021, about 1 mile from the park’s headquarters building, which burned in the fire. The camera has taken photos almost daily, documenting the remarkable recovery of the redwood giants in only three years. Although many Douglas firs and other trees were killed, 90% of the redwoods survived.
The video below shows monthly photographs taken from April 8, 2021 to Nov. 20, 2023.