"Muir Woods National Monument, California" by National Park Service , public domain
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Brochure of Muir Woods National Monument (NM) in California. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
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Muir Woods
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
National Monument
California
NPS / JAMES M. MORLEY
Muir Woods National Monument is a
remnant of ancient coast redwood forests
that blanketed many northern California
coastal valleys before the 1800s. Local
businessman William Kent and his wife
Elizabeth Thacher Kent bought land in
this valley in 1905 to protect one of the
last stands of uncut redwoods. To ensure
permanent protection, they donated
295 acres of redwoods to the federal government. In 1908 President Theodore
Roosevelt proclaimed the area a national
monument. At William Kent’s request,
it was named for conservationist John
Muir.
Thanks to the inspiration of John Muir
and the generous gift of the Kent family,
100 years later we are still able to experience this ancient old-growth forest.
We have been entrusted to carry on the
legacy of Kent and Muir, protecting this
awe-inspiring place for future generations
and working towards the preservation
of wilderness, wildness, and natural
wonder.
This is the best tree-lover’s monument
that could possibly be found in all the
forests of the world. You have done me
great honor, and I am proud of it.
—John Muir to William Kent
William Kent and John Muir
SAVE-THE-REDWOODS LEAGUE
Life of the Redwood Forest
Ancient Redwood Forest Coast redwoods
dominate this fog-drenched forest. Redwoods of all ages, including many over
600 years old, grow among standing dead
trees, rotting logs, and diverse undergrowth. This specialized forest environment
provides habitat for a range of plants and
animals adapted to the low light and
moist conditions.
Redwood sorrel
NPS / JAMES M. MORLEY
Shade-loving undergrowth thrives under
the redwood canopy. Redwood sorrel,
sword ferns, and mosses stay cool and
damp. Bay-laurels and big-leaf maples lean
towards pockets of sunlight. On hillsides,
large Douglas firs challenge the redwoods
in height. Delicate wildflowers like trillium,
clintonia, and redwood violet grace the
forest floor in winter and early spring.
Animals seem elusive in the quiet redwood forest. Some, like spotted owls, bats,
and raccoons, emerge mostly at night.
Others like deer are most active at dawn
and dusk. Some birds—warblers, kinglets,
and thrushes—migrate through Muir
Woods, but winter wrens live here yearround.
Reptiles and amphibians such as western
garter snakes, rubber boas, and California
giant salamanders are uncommon, but
slimy bright banana slugs are abundant
during the rainy season. Most commonly
seen are Steller’s jays, Sonoma chipmunks,
and Western gray squirrels.
Redwood Creek Watershed Redwood
Creek originates high on the slopes of
Mt. Tamalpais and nearly bisects the park.
It runs year-round, providing nearby trees
and animals with water, and is host to
diverse aquatic creatures, including fish,
insects, and salamanders.
In summer the creek slows to a trickle
connecting quiet pools. Winter is the wet
season, with an average of 40 inches of
rainfall per year. Winter rainstorms turn
the creek into a raging torrent. Rain-
Visiting Muir Woods
Muir Woods National
Monument, 12 miles
north of Golden Gate
Bridge, is reached via
U.S. 101 and Calif. Hwy.
1. Parking is limited: try
visiting on weekdays,
mornings, or late afternoons. Approach roads
are steep and winding;
vehicles over 35 feet
long are prohibited. No
public transportation
serves the park. Jackets
are advised: daytime
temperatures average
40° to 70°F.
There is a visitor center
and a self-guiding nature trail. A gift shop sells
snacks and souvenirs.
Find gasoline and services in Mill Valley, five
miles away. The park is
open 8 a.m. to sunset
year-round. Visitors 16
and older must pay entrance fees.
More Information
Managed by Golden
Gate National Recreation Area, Muir Woods
National Monument is
one of over 390 parks
in the National Park
System. The National
Park Service cares for
special places saved by
the American people so
all may experience our
heritage. To learn more
visit www.nps.gov.
Muir Woods
National Monument
Mill Valley, CA
94941-2696
415-388-2595
TTY 415-556-2766
www.nps.gov/muwo
˜GPO:20xx—xxx-xxx/xxxxx Reprint 20xx
Printed on recycled paper.
Protect Your Park
Please help preserve this
natural area. • Help keep
wildlife healthy: don’t
feed or disturb them.
Fishing is prohibited in
Redwood Creek. • Don’t
mar or remove flowers,
trees, or other natural
features. • No smoking
on trails. • No horses or
bicycles except on fire
roads. • Portable radios
are prohibited. • Picnicking and camping are not
allowed, but facilities are
provided nearby. • Pets
are not permitted, except service dogs.
Danger: Poison oak
and stinging nettles
are common. • During
high winds branches
or trees may fall.
Loop Walks
Walk in Redwood Canyon to enjoy the forest.
The 560-acre park includes six miles of trails.
The main, canyon floor
trails are paved and
mostly level. Bridges
1 to 4 (see map) make
short loop walks possible. Unpaved trails out
of the canyon connect
with trails in Mt. Tamalpais State Park.
swollen, Redwood Creek breaks through
the sand barrier at Muir Beach, allowing
threatened steelhead trout and endangered coho salmon to move up the creek
to spawn.
An Ecological Treasure Muir Woods
National Monument and the Redwood
Creek watershed are a part of Golden
Gate International Biosphere Reserve—
one of the planet’s richest and most
threatened reservoirs of plant and animal
life. Located near San Francisco, Muir
Woods each year sees nearly one million
visitors from all around the world. It is
truly a window into the complex world
of nature and conservation.
Steller’s jay
NPS / JAMES M. MORLEY
California Redwoods
Redwood-like trees covered much of the
Northern Hemisphere 150 million years
ago. As the climate changed, the range
of the redwood retreated. Now there are
two species of redwood in California,
with very limited ranges. The coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) grows on
a thin and discontinuous 500-mile strip
of Pacific coast from southern Oregon to
Big Sur. Most ancient coast redwoods
have been cut, but some are protected
in Redwood National and State Parks, in
many California and Oregon state parks,
and here in Muir Woods. This canyon of
redwoods was never logged. Its forest
of mixed-age and dead trees supports a
biologically rich community of plants
and animals.
and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National
Parks. Their range is restricted to small
groves on the west slope of the Sierra
Nevada.
Closely related, the giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) grows larger in bulk
but is less tall than the coast redwood.
Giant sequoias can be seen in Yosemite
Redwood
Giant Sequoia
Height to 379.1 ft.
Age to 2,000 yrs.
Diameter to 22 ft.
at breast height
Bark to 12 in. thick
Height to 311 ft.
Age to 3,200 yrs.
Diameter to 40 ft.
at breast height
Bark to 31 in. thick
Coast Redwoods: Tallest Living Things
Bohemian and Cathedral groves have the
biggest trees in Muir
Woods. The tallest is
over 252 feet and the
widest over 14 feet.
Some redwoods are at
least 1,000 years old.
Most mature trees are
500 to 800 years old.
Coast redwoods grow
best in moderate temperatures, protected
from the wind and salt
spray. They need sub-
stantial soil moisture
from rainfall and summer fog, growing tallest on the floodplains
of streams that flood
periodically. The world’s
tallest living thing is a
coast redwood in north-
ern California. In 2006 a
redwood in Redwood
National Park was measured at 379.1 feet tall.
stroys bacteria and fungi
in the duff layer that
can kill seeds before
they germinate. It recycles nutrients, turns debris into ash, and can
enhance wildlife forage.
Before fire suppression—
begun in the 1800s—
upset natural cycles,
wildfire occurred every
20 to 50 years here.
To restore the ecosystem’s integrity the
National Park Service
conducts prescribed
burning to re-establish
fire’s natural role in
the forest.
Roles of Fog and Fire
Fog Redwoods can
flourish only in coastal
California’s fog belt,
where frequent summer fog supplies critical moisture in the dry
season. Condensing on
leaves and needles, fog
drips to the forest floor
and replenishes water
that trees lose to evaporation and transpiration.
Fire Fire benefits the
long-term health of a
forest. Fire clears the
floor of duff so redwood seeds can reach
mineral soil. Fire de-
Bark
Cambium layer
Heartwood
Sapwood
Thick Bark
Its spongy and fibrous
bark—from six to 12
inches thick—insulates
the mature redwood
against fire damage.
Repeated hot fires can
burn through the bark
and expose the heartwood to dry rot. Later
fires may hollow out
rotted portions—the
Burl with sprout
Annual ring
Annual rings serve as a
climate record and capture a tree’s personal
history. Light and dark
rings together represent one year’s growth.
Wide rings show years
of plentiful rainfall. Narrow rings show harsher
years. Fire scars and
cracks are witness to a
tree’s struggle to survive.
blackened cavities you
may see beside the trail.
Redwoods get their
color—and name—from
the reddish-brown, bitter chemical tannin. Tannin makes both bark
and wood resistant to
fire and to attack by
insects and fungi.
Cones and Seeds
Redwoods are conifers
and evergreen. Mature
cones are woody, reddish brown, and about
the size of olives. Cones
mature in a year and
drop seeds, 50 to 60 tiny
flakes per cone, in late
fall. Within one month,
warm, moist soil may
stimulate a seed to germinate. If it is on suitable, fresh mineral soil
it may root. After the
first leaves appear, a
seedling begins making
its own food and may
grow to two or three
inches tall in its first
year of life.
Burls and Sprouting
In established forests
like Muir Woods, burl
sprouting accounts for
most reproduction of
redwoods. A burl is a
mass of dormant buds
that grows at the base
or on the roots or sides
of redwoods. When a
tree is injured or tissue
near a burl is affected,
the burl may sprout.
The sprouting gives redwoods great competitive advantage over
other trees that can reproduce by seed only.
Tightly grouped red-
woods, or those fused
at their bases, probably
began life as burl
sprouts.
ALL ILLUSTRATIONS NPS / JOHN DAWSON
Shallow Roots Roots
penetrate only 10 to 13 feet
deep, but they spread out
nearly 100 feet.