25 things for redwood lovers to look forward to in 2025

Our crystal ball reveals plenty of redwood-related highlights ahead

It’s been a rough start for many of us, but there are still plenty of amazing things ahead in 2025. So many opportunities to honor the world’s tallest and largest trees—and the wildlife and communities they shelter and nourish. So many new places to explore, events to enjoy, milestones to celebrate. Here at Save the Redwoods League, we’re looking forward to ALL of it. But we’re especially excited for another year of protecting the redwoods—those natural wonders in our own backyard—with everything we’ve got.

Here are 25 of our anticipation picks for 2025:

1. Free entrance days at national parks, including the big tree wonderlands of Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon, and Muir Woods. Free dates for 2025: January 9 and 20, April 19, June 19, August 4, September 27, and November 11.
2. Working with local communities, tribes, parks, and government agencies to fill in the 2-million-acre redwood forest, purchase by purchase. Keep an eye on your inbox for more exciting land protection news.
3. Spotting California’s new state slug in its bright yellow glory. AB 1850, which was recently signed into law, anointed the beloved banana slug as an official Golden State symbol.

   

4. Catching Redwood the musical, starring Idina Menzel, the “Queen of Broadway.” Previews begin January 24 and League members can get a special 20% discount on select tickets with promo code SAVEREDWOODS. Or enter to win a VIP trip for two to opening night.
5. Enjoying new birdwatching programs at the recently opened Rancho del Oso Welcome Center at Big Basin. Spend a morning meeting the winged residents of the riparian zone—and gazing up at the state park’s rapidly recovering redwoods.
6. Announcing the recipients of the League’s annual Redwood Research Grants. Last year, we funded scientific projects that further our understanding of the fascinating—and climate-fraught—relationship between redwoods and fog.  

   

7. Seeing the Pfeiffer Falls Trail bridge completed—for the second time! Just months after this elegant 70-foot pedestrian bridge was unveiled at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park in 2021, winter storms sent a massive redwood crashing onto the structure. Fingers crossed for a smooth reopening later this year.
8. Season 5 of the League’s acclaimed podcast, I’ll Go If You Go, which kicks off this spring with monthly episodes that delve into our deep human connection to the forest.
9. Celebrating the 55th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22. As we honor our planet, the League is proud to be doing the urgent climate work of reconnecting California’s old-growth redwood forests, which store more carbon per acre than any other forest in the world.
10. Breaking ground on construction at ‘O Rew Redwoods Gateway and entering the final season of restoration and revegetation of Prairie Creek. We can’t wait to take these important steps in our partnership with the Yurok Tribe and Redwood National and State Parks.

    

11. The League’s annual redwoods celebration, Take Me to the Trees, which brings good times to San Francisco on May 3, 2025. Mark your calendars and watch for tickets on sale in early March. Meanwhile, check out all the fun we had—and the funds we raised—at last year’s event.
12. Connecting with local communities during Mental Health Awareness Month in May—and spreading the word that time in the redwoods can lower depression and anxiety. In fact, just 60 seconds spent looking up at big trees makes people less stressed and more compassionate.
13. Celebrating the Arcata Community Forest’s 70th birthday. Dedicated in May 1955, California’s first municipally owned forest was later expanded with help from Save the Redwoods League. Prep for the party with a video tour of this beloved redwood ecosystem.

    

14. Summer access programs at the phenomenal Harold Richardson Redwoods Reserve. Check our website for registration and details on guided hikes and other opportunities to visit some of the tallest and largest coast redwoods in Sonoma County.
15. The start of our summer field season in the Sierra Nevada with the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition. Having treated over half the giant sequoia acres, we’re looking forward to building wildfire resilience across the entire sequoia range—and beyond.
16. Watching new trails take shape at Montgomery Woods in Mendocino County, including continued construction of the perimeter loop trail. Near the main grove, work will begin on a new bridge to carry hikers safely across the creek.

    

17. More soul-stirring sightings of the Northern Lights across the redwood range as peak solar activity continues into 2025.
18. Grabbing some popcorn and catching The Battle of Baktan Cross, which is scheduled for an August release. Leo DiCaprio stars in Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest movie, but our eyes will be glued to the gorgeous redwood backdrop of Humboldt County, where much of the movie was filmed.
19. This summer’s naturalization ceremony in the redwoods at Redwood National and State Parks, which welcomes new U.S. citizens and introduces them to one of the country’s most stirring outdoor spaces. Last year’s ceremony included applicants from 22 countries.
20. Catching the annual gathering of ladybugs in the East Bay redwoods. The hibernation party typically kicks off in mid-October, with bright red ladybugs congregating on foliage and fence posts along the Stream Trail in Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park.
    

    

21. Searching out marvelous mushrooms on the redwood forest floor. Late autumn rains coax out some of our fungal favorites, including delicate bird’s nest fungus.
22. More educational and wildly entertaining videos from Griff Griffith and Redwoods Rising. This year our Redwoods Rising collaboration with California State Parks and the National Park Service will celebrate 7 years of restoring formerly logged redwood forests to health—urgent work that never gets old.
23. More generosity and heartfelt gratitude for the redwood forests on Giving TREESday, set for December 2, 2025.

    

24. The 100th Trek to the Tree on December 14 in Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks. The event marks a century of sequoia fans paying tribute to the venerable General Grant Tree, the second-largest tree in the world, officially dedicated as “the Nation’s Christmas Tree.”
25. Capturing more amazing animal cameos on our wildlife cameras, from slinky mountain lions to massive Roosevelt elk. Biodiverse redwood forests house countless mammals, more than 200 types of birds, and 14 species of bees—not to mention the salmon and steelhead that spawn in redwood-shaded streams.