Newsletter Spring 1999

Marcel's Forest

Over the past couple of years, the Advocates have been actively involved in helping open access to a 25 acre addition to the park that we’ve been referring to as the Pourroy property, after the family that last owned the land. Many of us have spent enjoyable hours walking the trails and marveling at the old-growth redwoods but we knew little about the recent history of the property and the Pourroy family. That all changed this March when through sheer serendipity we were put in contact with Floyd and Eugene Pourroy, the sons of Marcel and Anna Pourroy who purchased the property in 1956. They graciously agreed to spend a Sunday morning hiking the property, sharing information about the family history and their father’s preservation of the forest.

Marcel was the son of a French immigrant who established the Pourroy Winery (now known as the Savannah – Canel Winery) in Saratoga around 1890. After a brief stint working at a lumber mill in Oregon, Marcel returned to the Santa Clara Valley and developed an orchard in Morgan Hill where the family grew walnuts and prunes. In 1956, he and Anna, purchased the land that is now the new park addition along with a house on View Point Drive with a plan to gradually retire, using the Aptos house as a weekend get-away. They bought the house and land from Ralph Reynolds who valued the old-growth redwoods and passed down the responsibility of conserving this special grove located so close to an urban center.

After the Pourroy family moved to Aptos full time in 1964, Marcel was able to spend more time down in the woods where, over the years, he developed a series of trails that looped up through an oak forest and down a canyon through the redwood forest. He was more than happy to allow friends and neighbors to enjoy the trails, if they asked permission, but didn’t suffer trespassers lightly. His sons described one instance when two young women on horses crossed Aptos Creek and rode up through the family property but upon meeting Marcel on the trail they were less than apologetic about their egress. This led to his building of the river rock wall that borders Aptos Creek to keep horse trespassers from entering the property from across the creek. Located adjacent to what was planned to be the family picnic area, most of us have assumed the rock wall was meant to maintain a sandy beach next to the creek but in reality the beach filled in behind the wall following winter rains.

After Anna passed away in 1990 and Marcel in 1993, the family contacted the Save-the-Redwoods League which purchased the land for about $260,000 in 1995 then transferred it to the park in 1997. We have Marcel to thank for putting in the trails and taking such good care of the forest and his heirs for having the good sense to contact the Save-the-Redwoods League thus ensuring the preservation of these inspiring old-growth trees. Considering that less than 5% of an ancient redwood forest that once covered approximatly 2,000,000 acres along the Oregon and California coasts is still standing, we are especially fortunate to have this new addition to the park.

In the near future, the Advocates will place a new interpretive panel at the Emmett Reed Picnic area near the entrance station. It will include a map of the trail system in the lower section of the park including the new Old-Growth Loop Trail that travels through what we are now calling Marcel’s Forest. Please come and explore this new trail where you you’ll find an attractive fern grotto along Aptos Creek, an unusual “crazy forest” of twisted redwood trees and some of the most magnificent old-growth redwoods you will ever see. Thank you Marcel and the Pourroy family for providing all of us with the opportunity to experience the unique beauty of these special trees and continuing the value of preserving those that remain.

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