Learn About the Park

a bridge crosses a meandering, rocky creek in a lush forest of redwoods and other trees — Muir Woods is an old growth coast redwood forest situated in the Redwood Creek watershed. Visitors may explore the miles of meandering trails - or simply gaze into the creek on any of the park's 5 bridges, like Bridge 2 pictured here. Click the image to read about walks & hikes at Muir Woods.
NPS/ Jace Ritchey

Established in 1908, this 550-acre park protects an old growth forest of coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), the tallest type of tree in the world. Named for famed American naturalist John Muir, the National Monument occupies the homelands of the Coast Miwok people, the original stewards of the area known today as Marin County.

Muir Woods lies in the middle of the coast redwood's latitudinal range that spans from the vast fog-drenched Coastal Range near California's northern border with Oregon to the steep canyons in Big Sur, just south of Monterey. These ancient forests have been relentlessly logged since the mid 1800s, in part due to the wood’s rot- and insect-resistant properties. Though new trunks regrow in family circles from the bases of mature trunks and stumps, logged areas do not naturally mature into “old-growth” ecosystems. That means Muir Woods encompasses one of few old growth coast redwood ecosystems on the planet – and due to its proximity to San Francisco, is one of the most easily accessed. But as the climate changes, the fog coverage is reduced, risk for mega-fires is increased, and other stressors leave the future of the forest uncertain - unless we act.

For now, the forest remains impressively biodiverse. Here, the slender, towering trunks shade a verdant understory filled with ferns, shrubs, and flowering plants. Though often unseen, animals are everywhere: banana slugs, amphibians, small rodents are common in the duff and dirt while black tailed deer, pacific wrens, chipmunks, and squirrels forage on the forest floor. Endangered populations of coho salmon, steelhead trout, and giant pacific salamanders call Redwood Creek home. Above, birds - including the northern spotted owl - and bats soar between rot-resistant branches on which arboreal newts may spend their entire lives.

It’s only because of the active stewardship of the local people that the forest exists today. The Coast Miwok, organized today as the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria (FIGR), long conducted cultural burning, a practice of intentionally igniting fires to maintain forest health. In the early 1900s, local community organized to prevent the area from being logged by donating the land to the federal government to create the national monument. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) played a key role in establishing trails in Muir Woods and Mount Tamalpais State Park.

In May 1945, Muir Woods was host to a monumental international event: a special session of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, held in San Francisco. United Nations delegates traveled to Muir Woods to honor the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt with a special memorial in a grove of redwood trees. Here, delegates - like visitors today - experienced the majesty of this complex ecosystem and committed themselves to pursuing world peace.

More recently, Muir Woods leaders have collaborated with other Redwood Creek watershed stakeholders to develop the One Tam partnership which mobilizes the resources of the National Park Service, California State Parks, The Marin Municipal Water District, Marin County Parks and Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy to ensure a vibrant future for Mt. Tamalpais. And thanks to decades of research about the creek, rangers have invested visitor fee dollars to improve creek habitat for the juvenile coho salmon that grow up in Redwood Creek. Today, park leaders are working with stakeholders, including the Parks Conservancy and FIGR, to restore fire to the forest for long-term ecosystem wellbeing.