BIG BASIN -- Walnut Creek resident Joyce Starr, 82, has been visiting Big Basin Redwoods State Park since she was a child. She'd often spend two months of her summer vacation camping with her family at the park, located about 10 miles north of Boulder Creek.

"It's the beautiful redwoods," Starr said on Saturday while on an interpretive hike with her daughter. "You don't get these redwoods anywhere else. This just has so much."

Starr and her daughter, Ellen Romero of Dublin, visited Big Basin on Saturday to celebrate the park's 110th birthday.

The event was marked with several activities to educate people about the oldest state park in California -- more than 20,000 acres in size and drawing roughly 1 million visitors every year.

The park, which is open year-round, is popular with campers, hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders.

Established in 1902, Big Basin was originally called California Redwood Park.

It is home to the largest continuous stand of ancient coast redwoods south of San Francisco, with some towering more than 300 feet.

There are more than 80 miles of hiking trails among the redwood forest, which is also mixed with conifer, oaks, chaparral and riparian habitats. Elevations vary from sea level to more than 2,000 feet.