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Redwood National Park
The Jurassic forest!
Did you know that redwoods thrived in the Jurassic Era 160 million years ago?
Around 1850, when old-growth forest covered more than 2 million acres (8,100 km2) of the west coast, many gold miners were attracted to Northern California due to a minor gold rush. Apparently, the area was not as rich in gold as people expected. So, in order to subsist economically many men cutted down the giant trees in order to supply the booming demand in San Francisco and other places on the West Coast.
After many decades of unrestricted clear-cut logging, serious efforts toward conservation began.
By the 1920s the work of “Save the Redwoods League”, founded in 1918 to preserve remaining old-growth redwoods, resulted in the establishment of the most important state parks in the region. The Redwood National Park and State Parks (RNSP) was the name used in 1968 to embrace most of the founded state and national parks located along the coast of northern California. By the time RNSP was created, nearly 90% of the original redwood trees had been logged.
Luckily, today the ecosystem of RNSP protects 45% of all remaining coast redwood old-growth forests, totaling at least 38,982 acres (157.75 km2). These trees are the tallest and one of the most massive tree species on Earth. In addition to the redwood forests, the parks preserve other indigenous flora, fauna, cultural resources, portions of rivers and other streams, and 37 miles (60 km) of intact coastline.
"Probably my favorite road I’ve driven to date."
Redwoods have existed along the coast of northern California for at least 20 million years and are related to tree species that existed 160 million years ago.
