Top 5 Redwood Parks to Visit This Winter

Giant Sequoia National Monument

5. Calaveras Big Trees State Park

As the story goes, in 1852 a hunter named Augustus T. Dowd wounded a grizzly bear and chased him into this forest, only to find trees that were three times bigger than any he’d ever seen before. When Dowd returned to civilization, he began spreading the word about the tall, red-barked giants. Today, at 4,800 feet in the central Sierra, Calaveras Big Trees State Park still surprises visitors with its spectacular giant sequoias. Save the Redwoods League helped establish this park in 1931, and has helped save 2,031 of the approximately 6,500 acres that make up the park.

4. Giant Sequoia National Monument

Giant Sequoia National Monument showcases nearly half of the giant sequoia groves in the entire world. While these trees don’t get quite as tall as coast redwoods, some are bigger by volume. Here they grow up to 270 feet high and 30 feet in diameter. With elevations ranging from 2,000 to 10,000 feet, the 328,000-acre Monument has many other attractions, including granite peaks, rushing rivers and wildflower-filled alpine meadows.

3. Muir Woods National Monument

Eleven miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge, Muir Woods National Monument is a redwood sanctuary near San Francisco. Its coast redwoods are more than 250 feet high and 400 to 800 years old. “This is the best tree-lover’s monument that could possibly be found in all the forests of the world,” declared Sierra Club Founder John Muir. The forest’s savior was not Muir, however, but California Congressman William Kent, who donated the land to the federal government in 1907.

2. Redwood & Roberts Regional Recreation Area

The slim, 150-foot trees you can see in these two regional parks are a generation removed from those that helped build the San Francisco Bay Area during and after the Gold Rush, but they represent the largest remaining stand of coast redwoods in the East Bay. With 1,829 acres surrounded by other open-space lands, Redwood Regional Park makes a significant contribution to the preservation of nature. With ball fields and swimming pools, 82-acre Roberts Recreation Area is more about family fun in a spectacular setting.

1. Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park

Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park is located off Highway 1, some 26 miles south of Carmel and two miles south of the hamlet of Big Sur. This beautiful park features redwoods, conifers, oaks, sycamores, cottonwoods, maples, alders and willows – plus open meadows. Save the Redwoods League has protected 300 of the approximately 1,000 acres in this park.

If you get a chance to visit a redwood park this winter, be sure to share your experience with us!
 

About the author

Jennifer joined Save the Redwoods League in 2007 as the Director of Outreach and is now the League's Chief Marketing and Communications Officer. A Bay Area native, Jennifer brings several years of journalism, marketing communications and media relations experience in the public and private sectors to her work. Jennifer is charged with leading the organization's marketing communications and outreach efforts to connect people to the peace and beauty of the redwood forests.

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One Response to “Top 5 Redwood Parks to Visit This Winter”

  1. scott dorn

    Jennifer – Marvelous idea to inspire folks to encounter redwoods in the winter!

    I’m hoping, weather agreeing, to combine my love of redwoods with my love of cross country skiing this holiday season! Knock on wood.. Snow shoes are great too :)

    The photo of photo of Giant Sequoia in the snow is gorgeous!

    It’s a gift to get to enjoy our friends the redwoods in person.

    Winter is special out in a forested area, it’s refreshing, peaceful, pure, quiet, and natural. Adding the big trees could be really magical!

    Thanks!

    Reply

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