California’s redwoods: from Muir Woods to the Avenue of the Giants

Coast redwoods are the tallest trees in the world, and California keeps its greatest groves along the foggy north coast. Here is a journey through them, from a monument just north of the Golden Gate to the largest old-growth redwood forest left on Earth.

Walk into an old-growth redwood forest and the light changes. The trunks rise into the fog, the sound drops away, and the scale of the trees takes a while to understand. Coast redwoods, Sequoia sempervirens, are the tallest type of tree in the world, and California’s north coast keeps the finest of them. You can see the first within half an hour of San Francisco and follow them north for hundreds of miles.

Muir Woods

Muir Woods National Monument, in Marin County just north of the Golden Gate, protects an old-growth forest of coast redwoods rooted along Redwood Creek. It has been protected as a National Monument since 1908 and is named for the naturalist John Muir. The 550-acre park lies in the homelands of the Coast Miwok people.

Orientation is at the front entrance, and the NPS App has maps and self-guided tours. Because it is so close to the city, Muir Woods is the easiest redwood forest to visit; check the park’s website before you go.

Point Reyes

Combine the redwoods with the coast at Point Reyes National Seashore, further north in Marin: rocky headlands, long sand beaches and open grasslands, home to more than 1,500 species of plants and animals. Look for the Point Reyes Lighthouse, the northern elephant seals at Drakes Beach and the tule elk, and bring a warm layer for the wind.

The Avenue of the Giants

In Humboldt County, Humboldt Redwoods State Park holds the largest remaining old-growth redwood forest in the world. The park covers 53,000 acres, almost twice the size of San Francisco, and about a third of it, some 17,000 acres, is ancient redwood forest.

About a third of Humboldt Redwoods State Park is ancient redwood forest.

The best way to see it is the 32-mile Avenue of the Giants. The park lies 45 miles south of Eureka and 20 miles north of Garberville. The park is open all year, and the visitor centre opens every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Redwood National and State Parks

Further north still, Redwood National and State Parks protect old-growth coast redwoods along the far north coast near Crescent City, a long drive or a short flight from San Francisco. It is the wildest of the redwood journeys, where forest meets the Pacific.

How to visit

For a day trip, Muir Woods and Point Reyes pair well from San Francisco. For the full journey, allow three or four days north: Marin, then Humboldt and the Avenue of the Giants, then Redwood National and State Parks. Entrance fees and passes are set by each park, so check each park’s own website first.

Our advice: go early in the morning, when the fog still hangs in the canopy and the paths are quiet. Stay on the trails, take nothing but photographs, and give yourself time to stop: the redwoods are best seen slowly.