Established in 1962

Hidden Springs Christmas Tree Farm property was bought by Fred and Wanda Frank in 1938. The Frank’s have been in Atascadero since the colony’s start. Fred Frank was one of the first citizens to work at the Atascadero fire department, established in 1926, and became the second fire chief in 1929. The farm in the 1930’s produced various crops including hay, wheat and fruit.

In 1962 their only son, Fred Frank Jr. (“Freddie) graduated from Humboldt State University with a degree in Forestry. He convinced his parents to start growing Christmas trees on a small section of the farm, and we now operate 10 acres of trees. The tree farm today is operated by the third and fourth generations, the Dobbs.

The private residence at the farm is part of the original farmhouse Fred and Wanda lived in. We now have one apartment open as an Airbnb, that you’re welcome to book and stay at!

Christmas trees need a lot of upkeep through the year on the Central Coast because of the warm temperatures, light rainfall and animals (mainly deer and gophers). Every year we plant our trees by hand after Christmas season and generally plant around 2,000 seedlings. The maintenance on the farm includes pruning, mowing and watering during the spring, summer and fall seasons. The hardest process of Christmas tree farming is it can take anywhere from five to fifteen years for a tree to be full grown and ready to be cut down depending on the type of tree. This means we must regularly maintain our crop and not all trees come out perfect.

We are open from the Friday after Thanksgiving to the middle of December and also import pre-cut trees for the types that we can’t grow here on the Central Coast, mainly the Noble Fir and Nordmann Fir. These typically are grown in Oregon and Washington at higher elevations and wetter climates. We grow about nine different varieties and are experimenting with different trees to see what type of trees do well in our climate. Our latest experiment is the Balsam fir, which is a full dark green and can be found in both lot 1 and 3. Our most popular varieties are the Douglas Fir as they have soft needles, are usually very full and are safe for pets. The Monterey Pine, which is one of our tallest varieties, and has long needles, a very strong scent and is native to the Central Coast. The Blue spruce is, yes… Blue! It is one of our slowest growing trees and very rare. We also have a variety of animals, flowers, plants and trees on the farm. We grow apples and peaches, as well as chestnuts to sell at Christmas time. You can find the chestnut trees along the driveway and in lot 2. There are also wild blackberries and mint grown along the pond and creek, as well as lemon verbena along the rows of trees. We also have a small herd of cattle to help graze the property and our farm dog named Timber!

During selling season we have complimentary hot apple cider, as well as hot cocoa and popcorn for purchase, and tree farm merchandise.

One of our main goals is to be a sustainable farm and promote buying locally. Christmas tree farms are a huge producer of oxygen and help remove carbon dioxide from the air, as well as produce a sustainable product. The fifth generation has now been born and the family plans to keep improving the farm so we can share this beautiful place with more people throughout the year.

Come join us this Christmas season,

The Dobbs and Fred Frank