Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve is a 1,323-acre (535 ha) state-owned park located in the Coastal Range in Mendocino County,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The Reserve occupies the headwaters of Montgomery Creek, a tributary of Big River, which flows into the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

Mendocino Headlands State Park Mendocino Headlands State Park is a California State Park in Mendocino, California Mendocino ( Spanish for "of Mendoza") is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Mendocino County, California, United States. Mendocin ...

. The virgin groves of Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) in Montgomery Woods are examples of a now rare upland riparian meadow habitat; most other preserved redwood groves are on broad alluvial plains. The Reserve is accessed from a parking area along Orr Springs Road west of

Ukiah, California Ukiah ( ; Pomo: ''Yokaya'', meaning "deep valley") is the county seat and largest city of Mendocino County, California, with a population of 16,607 at the 2020 census. With its accessible location along the U.S. Route 101 corridor, Ukiah serves ...

, or east of

Comptche, California Comptche (Pomo: ''Compatche'', meaning "In the valley among the hills") is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Mendocino County, California, United States. It is located southeast of Fort Bragg at an elevation of . Th ...

. A moderately steep trail from the parking area climbs uphill along Montgomery Creek about three-quarters of a mile. Once in the grove, the trail makes a meandering loop, with substantial use of boardwalks to protect the fragile forest floor. The reserve was initiated by a 9-acre (3.6 ha) donation from Robert T. Orr in 1945, with donated since 1947 by the Save the Redwoods League. Between 1999 and 2004, the tallest tree in Montgomery Woods, named the Mendocino Tree, was the world's tallest known tree. It was displaced by the discovery of a number of taller trees in

Humboldt Redwoods State Park Humboldt Redwoods State Park is a state park of California, United States, containing Rockefeller Forest, the world's largest remaining contiguous old-growth forest of Sequoia sempervirens, coast redwoods. It is located south of Eureka, Califor ...

and later

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 ...

in Humboldt County. The tree is one of dozens of similar height in the grove, and was never specifically marked in order to protect the tree. Earlier well-publicized candidates for the world's tallest tree suffered damage from stresses resulting from crowds of tourists.

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External links

Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve
{{authority control State parks of California Parks in Mendocino County, California Protected areas established in 1945 1945 establishments in California Old-growth forests