Circus Trees Trip Report

Circus Trees and the California Coast
June 2002

Bonfante Gardens is a relatively new in the bay area, down by Gilroy. It's directed mainly at families with young childern. There are several kids rides, and lots of flowers and trees to look at. The highlight is the circus trees. These are trees that were grafted together or grown into strange shapes by Axel Erlandson starting in the 1920's and continuing into the 1960's. When he died, his land fell into disuse and many of the trees died. Some locals managed to sneak in from time to time to care for them until 1984 when Bonfante bought them for his theme park. Of the 74 that existed when Erlandson died, 29 lived and were transplanted to the park. Two of his oldest and favorites survived, the Basket Tree and the Four Legged Giant.

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These pictures were taken on a trip down the coast following the excursion to Bonfonte Gardens. The campsite was in Malibu. The first two ocean picture are from around Carmel. The last one is on Highway 1 on the way to Big Sur.

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Lone Cypress
Highway 1

Other trips

Circus Trees and the California Coast June 2002

Circus Trees and the California Coast
June 2002