This week I’m going to be looking into Redwood National Park in California. This park is home to nearly half of the remaining old growth redwood trees in the world. It is no wonder that people flock to the park year round as these trees are a sight to see. They can be taller than 350 feet and some are as old as 2,000 years old. These towering trees are a great reminder of the amazing beauty of nature.

At the park, you may think all there is to do is look at trees, but this is not completely true! There are many hikes of varying difficulty and you can also do other activities such as bike riding, horse back riding, and camping. You can make a day trip to the park to take in the amazing scenery if you are in the area, or you can take a longer stay and camp for the week or weekend. As usual, there are many hikes through this National Park and there are options available for people of all ability levels. The park covers 131,983 acres so there are plenty of different areas to hike through that offer different experiences. 

One trail that is available to hikers that just want a quick, easy walk that will allow them to see the famous Redwood trees is the Lady Bird Johnson Trail. This one mile, flat trail weaves through the gigantic trees and provides an up-close view of them. Anyone can access this trail and it is a great option for families with children or older people. If you want something more challenging, there are options for that too. The Tall Trees Grove hike is one that many people choose to camp overnight in order to complete. You can get a permit to backpack and camp on this hike, which breaks up the 16 mile hike into two more manageable chunks. This allows you to relax on your hike and enjoy the views. The trail is 8 miles one way and leads to the Tall Trees Grove. You can hike one way, camp overnight, and then hike back out in the morning. This is a great opportunity to be immersed in nature and really admire the amazing size of the trees. 

Originally, the land was used by Native Americans who used fallen trees to build shelter. They respected nature and thought of their houses as an extension of nature and therefore a “living being” (National Park Service). When settlers began flocking to California in the 1800s during the gold rush, they pushed Natives off of their land and the initial contact was very violent. These new occupants of the land did not treat the land or trees with the same respect that the Natives had given them. In 1968 the park was established in order to preserve the trees and avoid any destruction of the beautiful land. This beautiful area is now being preserved so that people can continue to see these amazing trees for generations. 

Citations: 

“Redwood Area History.” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, https://www.nps.gov/redw/learn/historyculture/area-history.htm.