Humboldt Redwoods State Park is a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, United States, containing Rockefeller Forest, the world's largest remaining contiguous

old-growth forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological feature ...

of coast redwoods. It is located south of

Eureka, California Eureka (Wiyot: ''Jaroujiji'', Hupa: ''do'-wi-lotl-ding'', Karuk: ''uuth'') is the principal city and county seat of Humboldt County in the Redwood Empire region of California. The city is located on U.S. Route 101 on the shores of Humboldt B ...

, near

Weott Weott is a census-designated place in Humboldt County, California. It is located north of San Francisco, California and due east of the Pacific Ocean. Lower Weott is situated at an elevation of along the Avenue of the Giants and in the flood p ...

in southern Humboldt County, within

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

, named after the great nineteenth-century scientist,

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister ...

. The park was established by the

Save the Redwoods League Save the Redwoods League is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect and restore coast redwood (''Sequoia sempervirens'') and giant sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') trees through the preemptive purchase of development rights ...

in 1921 largely from lands purchased from the

Pacific Lumber Company The Pacific Lumber Company, officially abbreviated PALCO, and also commonly known as PL, was one of California's major logging and sawmill operations, located 28 miles (45 km) south of Eureka and 244 miles (393 km) north of San Francisc ...

. Beginning with the dedication of the Raynal Bolling Memorial Grove, it has grown to become the third-largest park in the California State Park system, now containing through acquisitions and gifts to the state. It is part of the Northern California coastal forests ecoregion and has of

s. are old-growth redwoods, comprising the entire Bull Creek

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

and the Rockefeller Forest. Nearby

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...

, which generally follows the Eel River and its South Fork in this part of the North Coast, offers easy access to the park and nearby towns with connections to the scenic highway,

Avenue of the Giants The Avenue of the Giants is a scenic highway in northern California, United States, running through Humboldt Redwoods State Park. It is named after the coastal redwoods that tower over the route. The road is a former alignment of U.S. Route 101, ...

, also mostly located within or near park boundaries.

History

The original inhabitants of the area were the

Sinkyone The Eel River Athabaskans include the Wailaki, Lassik, Nongatl, and Sinkyone (Sinkine) groups of Native Americans that traditionally live in present-day Mendocino, Trinity, and Humboldt counties on or near the Eel River and Van Duzen River ...

. In the 1850s white settlers began

felling Felling is the process of cutting down trees,"Feller" def. 2. and "Felling", def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) © Oxford University Press 2009 an element of the task of logging. The person cutting the trees ...

the redwoods, seeking to clear the land for homes and pasture. About 20 years later the timber industry moved into the region, and railways and roads were routed through the area for accessibility to the trees. In 1918 after realizing how much of the old-growth forests closer to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

had been harvested,

Boone and Crockett Club The Boone and Crockett Club is an American nonprofit organization that advocates fair chase hunting in support of habitat conservation. The club is North America's oldest wildlife and habitat conservation organization, founded in the United Sta ...

members formed the

, and began working to preserve redwood forests in the region, including the area that became Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The

Garden Club of America The Garden Club of America is a nonprofit organization made up of around 18,000 club members and 200 local garden clubs around the United States. Founded in 1913, by Elizabeth Price Martin and Ernestine Abercrombie Goodman, it promotes the recor ...

, through its Redwood Grove Committee, raised half of the funds needed to buy the 2,552 acre Canoe Creek Grove which became part of Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

Sarah Gildersleeve Fife Sarah Gildersleeve Fife (28 Sep 1885 – 20 May 1949) was a prominent force among women bibliophiles in the first half of the 20th century and a leader in gardening and horticulture, advocating the use of plantings around army bases and military ...

was instrumental in the activities of this committee.

Redwoods

The park is famed for its coast redwoods (''Sequoia sempervirens''), many of which grow to over in height. The forests on

alluvial plain An alluvial plain is a largely flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A floodplain is part of the process, being the smal ...

s are almost pure redwood forest, but the forests on the slopes also contain

Douglas-fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...

. Over 100 of the 137 known trees over tall—all coast redwoods—occur in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. It is home to the 4th-tallest measured living redwood, the

Stratosphere Giant The Stratosphere Giant was once considered the tallest tree in the world. It was discovered in July 2000 growing along Bull Creek in Humboldt Redwoods State Park by Chris Atkins, measuring 112.34 meters (368.6 ft) tall. The tree has c ...

, which was measured at in 2004. Stratosphere Giant was the tallest known living redwood until the discovery of three taller trees in

Redwood National Park The Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP) are a complex of one national park and three state parks, cooperatively managed, located in the United States along the coast of northern California. Comprising Redwood National Park (established 1968 ...

; the tallest, Hyperion, measuring in September 2006.Prof Stephen Sillett's webpage
Before the discovery of Hyperion, the tallest redwood ever measured was the Dyerville Giant, also in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. It was high when it fell in March 1991. It was estimated to be 1,600 years old. The Dyerville Giant can be seen on Founders Grove Nature Trail, which honors the creators of Save the Redwoods League. Also in this grove is Founders Tree, which is tall with circumference of . There is also an albino redwood referred to as the Christmas Tree.

Recreation

The

offers visitors a drive through Humboldt Redwoods State Park with eight stops along an auto tour of park highlights. The park has over of hiking trails. Visitors to the park can go horseback riding, mountain biking, fishing, and swimming in the

South Fork Eel River The South Fork Eel River is the largest tributary of the Eel River in north-central California in the United States. The river flows north from Laytonville to Dyerville/Founders' Grove where it joins the Eel River. The South Fork drains a long ...

. The park is prone to fire hazards, and camping is permitted in specified areas. Almost 250 sites are available for use, including an equestrian camp. Nearby Burlington, serves as a main camping spot, alongside Albee.

References

External links

Official Humboldt Redwoods State Park websiteHumboldt Redwoods Interpretive Association
{{authority control State parks of California Parks in Humboldt County, California Coast redwood groves Old-growth forests Protected areas established in 1921 1921 establishments in California Pacific Lumber Company

History

Redwoods

Recreation

See also

References

External links