Muir Woods National Park home to the Giant Coastal Redwoods

Muir Woods National Park home to the Giant Coastal Redwoods

Muir Woods National Monument is a redwood forest located in the bay area. Much of the trees located near Muir Woods have been logged, leaving Muir Woods National Monument as one of the last areas with redwood trees in the San Francisco Bay Area. Muir Woods is named after the conservationist John Muir, who was a popular figure during the late 1800s and early 1900s. One of the interesting features of Muir Woods is the 6 miles of hiking trails.

The type of redwood trees located in Muir Woods is called Sequoia, it is also known as "Coast Redwood". Coast Redwood trees can live to be 800 to 1500 years old, and up to 350 feet or more in height for the tallest known trees of the species. Coast Redwoods are the tallest trees on Earth, with the three tallest trees ranging from 370-380 feet tall. Redwoods used to cover 2 million acres of northern California, today only 85,000 acres of redwoods exist in the same area. Muir Woods has a lot of other types of plant and animal life.

During the gold rush in California, lumber was a very necessary commodity for gold mining. Redwood trees are the largest trees on earth and supply a lot of lumber, people started to log the trees in Marin County. Muir Woods was originally spared from logging due to being difficult to access and to take lumber out of. Muir Woods has always been a popular spot for people to travel to, people originally traveled to Muir Woods on horseback and on the Mt.Tamalpais Railroad. When cars were available in the 1900s people used them to travel to many interesting places including Muir Woods. The problem with so many people driving their cars in Muir Woods is that the undergrowth started to get damaged, this did not go unnoticed by a Congressman named William Kent.

William Kent and his wife Elizabeth Kent purchased 611 acres of land in the area that would become Muir Woods. To protect the redwood forest from being destroyed William Kent donated 295 acres of land to the government, in 1908 that 295 acres was declared a National Monument by Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt wanted to name the monument after William Kent, William asked for it to be named after John Muir, a famous conservationist. In 1924, 16 years after Muir Woods become a national monument, driving cars in redwood groves was prohibited. Soon after driving was prohibited other policies to keep Muir Woods health as an ecosystem was started, such as not allowing people to picnic, not being allowed to collect rocks, plants or animals from the area, and fencing off trails.

Muir Woods is an ancient forest that has been around longer than many countries, it is a place of beauty and history. Muir Woods is a great place to go hiking and to be reminded of how different life was even 200 years ago when it could only be accessed by horseback. Luckily there are many different trails to take depending on how long you want to spend hiking, and other ranged led activities. There is also a cafe and gift shop.

POST COMMENT

Tricks To Successfully Baby Proofing A Home Beautiful and Distinctive Interior Doors Paintball Is Better Than Laser Tag Bi-fold Doors And French Doors- What's The Difference? How One Can Use Indoor Dryer Vent? How to Take Care of Your Furniture Amrapali Princely Estate By Innovions Call 9560090054 Unsecured Loans-Beneficial for tenants or non-homeowners Various And Diy Home Decoration One Zero One - A Primer Outdoor Shed Designs - Don't Miss This ! Search for Someone's Name Using Phone Number –Best reverse phone directory for finding owner Add some Tranquility to your Bathroom with These Clever Organizers How To Build Storage Shed Doors - Everything You Need !