Muir Woods National Monument - History & Culture (U.S. National Park Service)

Old black & white photograph of William Kent (donor & benefactor of Muir Woods) & Stephen Mather (1st Director of the National Park Service) standing next to a large boulder with a plaque about Gifford Pinchot. The redwood tree they are leaning on was dedicated to Gifford Pinchot, The redwood tree name as the Pinchot Tree may be seen today.

W. Kent and S. Mather standing at the base of the Pinchot tree at Muir Woods National Monument.

Muir Woods has a rich and varied history, from its use by the Coast Miwok people, to its early days of tourism and the Mount Tamalpais Mill Valley Scenic Railway, to an era of conservation, to modern preservation. In each era, the forest has been affected by the actions of humans, for better or for worse.
Explore our history pages to learn more about the people and timeline!

See a synopsis of the Proclamation declaring Muir Woods a National Monument or learn the complete history of Muir Woods National Monument, by downloading the Muir Woods Historic Resource Study (25MB, PDF file).

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