Best Places to See California’s Redwood Forests
- Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park: Besides the big trees, this redwood forest park is also home to a herd of Roosevelt Elk and a showy bloom of rhododendrons in May and June. It’s located between Crescent City and Eureka.
- Redwood National Park: Several redwood forest state and national parks are administered jointly, together preserving almost half of the old-growth redwood forests remaining. You’ll find five visitor centers, four campgrounds and plenty of things to do. The Ladybird Johnson Grove, just off US 101 offers a fairly easy, one-mile walk through a redwood forest full of the tall trees. You’ll find it just south of Prairie Creek.
- Muir Woods National Monument: Just 12 miles north of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge, Muir Woods is an easily accessible redwood forest that offers three hiking loops with well-groomed trails most anyone can manage. Rangers also give frequent guided walks that will help you learn about the redwood forest.
- Yosemite National Park: The Mariposa Grove is Yosemite’s largest redwood forest, home to specimens of giant sequoias. It’s about 4 hours’ drive east of San Francisco.
- Big Basin Redwoods State Park: In the mountains south of San Francisco between San Jose and the town of Santa Cruz, this redwood forest stood in for Muir Woods in Alfred Hitchcock’s film Vertigo. It’s much less crowded than Muir and has some nice tent cabins where you could spend the night in the middle of the redwood forest.
- Petrified Redwood Forest: Nature turned this redwood forest to stone, making it a different way to experience the trees. They’re located just west of Calistoga at he north end of the Napa Valley.
- Sequoia National Park: This is the place to go if your goal is to see the redwood forests with the very biggest giant sequoia trees. The largest living things make their home here, including the General Sherman Tree, the world’s largest tree and the only-slightly-smaller General Grant Tree.
- General Sherman TreeGeneral Grant TreeTunnel Log
Fort Miller Clarkia
Pink Stickseed
Mariposa Lily
Lupine
Indian Paintbrush
