Home of the world’s tallest trees, Redwoods National Park is a  World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve which protects nearly half of the world’s old growth redwoods, including champion specimens more than 370 feet (113 meters) in height—or five stories taller than the Statue of Liberty.

Located in northern Humboldt and throughout the coast of neighboring Del Norte County, three California state parks – Prairie Creek Redwoods (Humboldt County), Del Norte Coast Redwoods & Jedediah Smith Redwoods, (Del Norte County) and Redwood National Park comprise the Redwood National & State Park system. 

The park’s forests, hills, rivers and coastline support a rich mosaic of life, including Roosevelt Elk, whales, seals and seasonal wildflowers such as lupine and rhododendron. The sprawling park system also provides many opportunities for scenic drives.

Visitors are invited to walk, Hike, Bike Ride, Camp & Horseback Ride on over 200 miles of trails that weave through a variety of environments, including prairies, old-growth redwood forests and beaches. 

Coastal redwoods, the tallest living things on earth

Redwoods have grown and prospered in many areas of Europe, Asia and North America since the warm Paleozoic Era over 160 million years ago. Changes in climate have restricted their natural range and eliminated all but three genera of redwood.

Dawn Redwood, (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), is native to a remote area of central China.

The Giant Sequoia, (Sequoiadendron giganteum), is native to the western slope of the southern Sierra Nevada mountain range in California.

The Coast Redwood, (Sequoia sempervirens), is native to the Pacific Coast from southern Oregon to central California, extending not more than 50 miles inland.  

Coast redwoods follow the fog and grow best at less than 2,000 feet elevation in areas of heavy winter rains and moderate year round temperatures. They are the world’s tallest living things. Some of them tower above 360 feet.

The name, Sequoia sempervirens, is Latin for “ever living” – an appropriate name for these trees since many are 600 to 1200 years old and some have lived more than 2,000 years!

In fact, since coast redwoods often reproduce by root collar burl sprouting, the genetic material that comprises some trees may be thousands of years old.

In late 2006, naturalists discovered a new tall tree, dubbed Hyperion. It is in the Redwood National Park in Humboldt County (near the original Tall Tree that was discovered in the 60s) in an undisclosed location. It rises to 379.1 feet, which is nearly six stories taller than the Statue of Liberty! 

Besides Hyperion,  Redwood National and State Parks harbor other trees of record height, including the tallest known grand fir, Sitka spruce and hemlock. 

Statistics cannot begin to describe the beauty, grandeur and majestic serenity of these trees and the forests in which they grow best – dense groves on the alluvial flats alongside the streams of coastal northern California.

The timeless beauty of these groves results at least in part from the dramatic contrast of many elements.

The rough textured reddish bark of the redwood trees themselves, the delicate greenery of redwood foliage, the lush carpet of sorrel, mosses and ferns on the forest floor, sunlight filtering down over these colors and textures in ever-changing patterns all contribute to the entirety.

Along with all this there is the special silence of a redwood grove – a living silence made up of many small sounds.

The tranquility of a redwood grove is even more impressive when one remembers that all of the older trees in this forest have survived repeated windstorms, fires and floods. Their quiet, stately endurance to survive is awesome.

The redwoods pithy bark and lack of true resin makes them naturally fire and insect resistant. Fire can cause damage to redwoods, sometimes creating a burnt hollow termed a “goosepen” by early settlers who used to pen chickens, geese and other livestock inside.

Redwoods can grow tissue to heal fire scarring, sometimes completely covering the scar. They can also grow a buttress to compensate for a lean.

Coast redwoods do not have a single taproot. Instead, they form a shallow network of relatively small roots that extend radially, up to a hundred feet from the base. The ends of the roots are fibrous, allowing them maximum surface area to obtain moisture and nutrients.

If a flood buries the roots too deeply in silt, they have the ability to grow and explore their way upward toward more oxygenated soil. In addition to root collar burl sprouting, coast redwoods also reproduce from seeds.

Flowering occurs in December and January with cones maturing over the spring and summer.

In the autumn, the cones open on the trees and, on average, 50 to 100 tiny seeds sprinkle out. Seedlings survive best in exposed mineral soil that often occurs as a result of fire, flood and uprooted trees.

Ancient Forests

Recently, the term “old growth” has become a focal point of forest policy discussions. It should be understood, however, that the term refers not to individual trees, but to the entire forest community.

Old-growth is an imprecise term, for most wild forests are actually “all-aged” – old and young trees growing together. The crown of an old-growth redwood forest is likely to be very uneven. Some of the larger trees may have wind-damaged tops and relatively few branches.

Competition to fill the canopy is apt to be fierce, and younger trees of different species may compete to fill the canopy.

This multi-layered canopy efficiently traps moisture from fog so that even during the dry season the massive trunk of an ancient redwood may contain thousands of gallons of water. This reserve of moisture and a thick, protective bark enable redwoods to survive wildfires.

In the Pacific Northwest, old-growth forests are ecosystems dominated by large conifers of an age predating European influence. The dominant trees in coastal redwood forests range from several hundred years to over two thousand years.

Snags are another characteristic feature of an old-growth forest. These large, erect, dead trees may remain standing for decades, or even centuries. Large, down trees may lie on the forest floor, gradually decaying, for many hundreds of years.

Only in old-growth forests are young, old, dead and down trees all present at the same time. These forests are truly ancient. Their appearance has changed very little over time. Only a couple of trees per acre, per century need to appear to sustain the population.

In a tropical rainforest, where vegetation is so thick as to be impenetrable, it seems like the ultimate in dense forest conditions.

Surprisingly, however, the greatest accumulation of biomass (living and dead organic material) ever recorded on earth is in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, where an acre of stem mass (redwood tree trunks) alone has been estimated at 1,541 tons.

When branch, leaf and root mass are added, the estimate increases to 1,800 tons per acre – seven times the density of biomass in an acre of tropical rainforest!

Like the Amazon rainforests, much, if not most of life in an ancient coniferous forest remains unknown to humans.

Many kinds of insects, birds, and small mammals spend their entire lives high above the ground in the forest canopy where people spend little or no time.

Woodpeckers and insects excavate snags and down trees, providing a habitat for many other species that in turn become food for large predators. While many ecological factors and interrelationships have been identified in these forests, many more remain to be discovered and understood. 

Ten Must See Redwood Trees

In Redwood National Park and near the Avenue of the Giants in Humboldt County, just a few hours north of San Francisco and easily accessible from Hwy 101, there are 10 must see redwood trees:

1. Big Tree
This old growth giant in Redwood National & State Parks has a circumference of 68 feet. This tree lives up to its name! On the Newton Drury Scenic Parkway near the Prairie Creek Visitor Center, the tree is an estimated 1,500 years old.

2. Star Wars Tree 
Return of the Jedi transformed Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park’s Cheatham Grove into the moon of Endor. See Luke and Leia, while pursuing stormtroopers on landspeeders, duck under a downed tree (0:18s) and skim over this odd crossing of limbs (0:49s): vimeo.com/90760828. Better, re-create the experience in character like Kevin Armstrong from Canada: bit.ly/starwarshumboldt. May the Forest be with you.

3. Brad Pitt Grove
OK, he doesn’t really have one, but the Hollywood hunk recently hiked in Humboldt Redwoods State Park and chose this lush spot in the Grieg French Bell Grove for a relaxing Pitt stop. See more Brad in the big trees here: bit.ly/pitthumboldt

4. Corkscrew Tree
This photogenic oddity has four trunks intertwined together as they reach up skyward. Located in Redwood National & State Parks, just north of Big Tree on the Newton Drury Scenic Parkway. Children find its twisting nooks irresistible to explore.

5. Tall Trees Grove 
The discovery of the world’s tallest tree in this hidden old growth forest led to the creation of Redwood National Park in 1968. Pick up a free permit to hike to grove, considered by some the most beautiful in the park, at the visitor center in Orick. While Tall Tree lost its title, the current recordholder remains hidden in an undisclosed location nearby.

6. Giant Tree
Not the tallest redwood, but this specimen in Humboldt Redwoods State Park is pretty much the best in show. Designated the National Champion Coast Redwood for having the best combination of height, diameter and crown spread, it could be dubbed Big Beauty. Perhaps the largest redwood in terms of mass, it is in the park’s Rockefeller Forest, the world’s largest stand of old growth redwoods, 10,000 acres!

7. Dyerville Giant 
Once perhaps 400 feet high, this champion tree crashed to the ground in 1991, creating a thunderous roar akin to a train wreck heard for miles around. Despite being horizontal, it still impresses visitors, sporting a huge uprooted root cluster with wooden dreadlocks sprouting in all directions, and an enormous crater where it once stood. Off the Avenue of the Giants in Humboldt Redwoods State Park’s Founders Grove.

8. Albino Redwood
Only a handful of these rare forest ghosts exist, including the most picturesque of them all, the so-called Christmas Tree in the Women’s Federation Grove on the Avenue of the Giants. It’s near the grove entrance but there’s no marked trail. Best to ask politely at the nearby Humboldt Redwoods State Park visitor center for directions.

9. Girdled Tree
Despite being thin-skinned, this remarkable tree endured a major insult. A century ago almost all of the first 30 feet of bark were removed and stitched together in a San Francisco exibition. Remarkably it survived. Today a massive scar illustrates the resilience of this species. Off the Avenue of the Giants in the Grieg French Bell Grove in Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

10. Shrine Drive-Thru Tree
While the Yosemite Tree fell over decades ago, you can still steer your wheels through a living tree. In fact, there are THREE, all on the Redwood Coast. The most distinctive is on the Avenue of the Giants, the Shrine Tree, as nature, not man, carved most of its tunnel. A perfect place to pose with your Delorean. Pining for more? See these trees and honorable mentions like the Darth Vader Tree, Stroll-Thru Tree and Horse-Thru Tree in an artsy online gallery: bit.ly/tenmustseetrees

Plants & Wildlife

This native area provides a unique environment with heavy seasonal rains up to 100 inches (2,500 mm) annually. Cool coastal air and fog drip keep this forest consistently damp year round.

Several factors, including the heavy rainfall, create a soil with fewer nutrients than the trees need, causing them to depend heavily on the entire biotic community of the forest, especially complete recycling of the trees when dead.

This forest community includes coast Douglas fir, Pacific madrone, tanoak, western hemlock, and other trees, along with a wide variety of ferns, mosses, mushrooms, and redwood sorrel. The oldest known coast redwood is about 2,200 years old, with many others exceeding 600 years.

The thick, fibrous bark of coast redwoods is extremely fire-resistant; it grows to at least a foot thick and protects mature trees from fire damage. 

Redwood forests provide habitat for a variety of amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles. Old-growth redwood stands provide habitat for the federally threatened spotted owl and the California-endangered marbled murrelet.