Arnold, CA……..Rescued birds of prey will be featured at Calaveras Big Trees State Park on August 5 at 10:00 A.M. The wild birds will accompany handlers from the Native Bird Connections, an educational organization from the Bay Area specializing in wild birds. The program will last approximately 1.5 hours. 

The public is invited to attend the event, which is being held in conjunction with the regular meeting of the park Docents.   Admission to the event is free with payment of the $8.00 entrance fee.   A $3.00 donation is suggested for campers and Docents. 

The birds on display have been injured and cannot be released back into the wild, so they are the main focus of lectures presented by Connections. The experienced naturalist interpreters will discuss the birds to raise public awareness about the importance of protecting nature’s feathered hunters.

For additional information on the event, call the Visitor Center at 209-795-7980. The Park is located 3 miles east of Arnold on Hwy. 4.  For information on the Native Bird Connections, check their Web site at http://www.nativebirds.org.

This and many other park educational and interpretive programs are supported by the non-profit Calaveras Big Trees Association.  For more information or to join their efforts, call 209 795-3840.

(Press Release from Calaveras Big Trees Association)

FAMILY DAY AT CALAVERAS BIG TREES STATE PARK

Calaveras Big Trees State Park, CA -- The annual Family Day celebration is set for Saturday, August 21, with a wide range of events and hands-on adventures for all ages.

Public events include demonstration booths, crafts, carriage rides, demonstrations of native cultures, music and outdoor activities beginning at 10 a.m. and ending at 4 p.m.

Family Day traditionally draws the largest crowds of the year to  one of the state’s premier state parks. The park contains picnic areas, miles of hiking trails, snow-fed streams, conifer forests, campgrounds, two rare Giant Sequoia groves and was California’s very first tourist attraction.

The day is sponsored by Calaveras Big Trees Association, the nonprofit group that raises money to support educational and interpretive programs throughout the year.

Activities for the public this year include a chance to hold reptiles, a live raptor program,  and a wildlife education group called “Wild Things” that will bring rescued mammals unable to  return to the wild.

New activities include: Search and Rescue team members, the Sierra Nevada Logging Museum, Calaveras High School Earth Club, First Five (with a project for preschoolers), and the return of a storyteller who has been very popular in past years.

Regular events and activities this year include: “cocked hat bowling”, which replicates bowling in the Gold Rush era, the Great Mother Lode Brass and Reed Band, fly fishing demonstrations, face painting, a talk about butterflies, fire truck demonstration, another about song birds, and hands-on craft events including “twig art” and a project by artists from “Arts of Bear Valley.”

The band “Passin’ Thru” will play in the picnic area behind Jack Knight Hall, an architectural gem built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and still in regular use. Barbecue lunches will be offered by the Arnold Moose Lodge. Ice cream and donated baked goods will also be available for purchase.

Bring the family and meet “Smokey Bear” and “Sierra,” the Big Trees chipmunk. Come and learn about Miwok culture, look through a Sun telescope or take a guided hike in the meadow, in the North Grove, or to a very special place - the Indian grinding rock that is in the park.

Calaveras Big Trees State Park is located at 4,800 feet altitude on Highway 4 in Calaveras County, between Arnold and Camp Connell. Regular park admission of $8 per vehicle will be collected at the gate.

Coming Soon! A New Calaveras Big Trees Book

We’ve got some exciting news to share – a new book about Calaveras Big Trees Park is in production and will be available in September.

The 128-page book features nearly 200 historical photographs documenting the early history of the Big Trees following their discovery in 1852, and the development of the North and South Groves into one of the state’s first tourist destinations.

Co-authored by CBTA and writer Carol Kramer, the book is part of Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series. The Discovery Tree in the Calaveras Grove, now the Big Stump, was the first of the giant sequoia trees discovered.  The book reviews the discovery of the grove, early exploitation of the trees, the development of the North Grove into a premiere tourist stop, the efforts to preserve the North and South Groves and the eventual creation of a state park.

The book will be available for purchase at the park’s bookstore and on this Web site when it becomes available in early September.  We also plan to host a book signing with the author at the park.