Enter the Redwood Forest

Walk among old growth coast redwoods, cooling their roots in the fresh water of Redwood Creek and lifting their crowns to reach the sun and fog. Federally protected as a National Monument since 1908, this primeval forest is both refuge and laboratory, revealing our relationship with the living landscape.

Physical Address

Muir Woods National Monument
1 Muir Woods Rd
Mill Valley, CA 94941

Directions

From San Francisco: Muir Woods is located 11 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge. Take Hwy 101 North –> Mill Valley/Highway 1/ Stinson Beach Exit –> Follow the signs to Hwy 1 –> Follow the signs to Muir Woods From the East Bay: Take Hwy 580/Richmond/San Rafael Bridge West –> Hwy 101 South –> Take the Stinson Beach/Mill Valley Exit –> Follow the signs to Highway 1 –> Follow the signs to Muir Woods Vehicles over 35 feet long are prohibited. RVs under 35′ need an oversized parking spot.

Operating Hours and Seasons

All Park Hours

Active Exception Peak Hours May 27–September 4

• Sunday 8:00 AM–5:00 PM
• Monday 8:00 AM–5:00 PM
• Tuesday 8:00 AM–5:00 PM
• Wednesday 8:00 AM–5:00 PM
• Thursday 8:00 AM–5:00 PM
• Friday 8:00 AM–5:00 PM
• Saturday 8:00 AM–5:00 PM

DESCRIPTION

Muir Woods is open every day of the year, with exceptions for inclement weather and hazardous conditions. Updates on closures will be posted as an alert to the website and on social-media pages.

What is happening in Redwood Creek this summer?

Redwood Renewal is a sweeping, multi-year effort to help protect the health of Muir Woods. This summer is a particularly exciting time, as we begin to repair a century of damage to parts of Redwood Creek and bring back vital habitat for the endangered coho salmon that live here. Between July and November 2023, we will remove a portion of the rock walls, or “riprap,” that line the creek banks, and install trees and logs in creek to create fish habitat. In 2019, we completed part of this work in the upstream half of Muir Woods. Over time, the natural movement of water will finish the job of transforming Redwood Creek from its current hardened state to a more complex, natural, and healthy stream ecosystem with lots of deep pools and cover for young coho salmon.

For the fish…

Decades of research have taught us that the biggest threat to the survival of Redwood Creek’s coho is a lack of good stream habitat for young fish. Part of the problem is that in the 1930s, some of the creek was lined with rock to stabilize its banks. Large swaths of the forest understory were also cleared to provide people with better views of the biggest trees, and fallen trees were removed if they fell in the creek. Since then, we have gained a better understanding of how streams and forests work. After turning the meandering stream into a straight channel, we learned that riprap in fact makes the water flow faster. Meanwhile, fish – especially young salmon – need bends, pools with slow flow, and logs with pile-ups of small branches in which to shelter and feed. While we used to value the big trees above all else, we are learning of the importance of balance in the ecosystem.

…and for the forest

Removing the rock walls will benefit not only coho, but also other plants and wildlife and even insects that depend upon a healthier stream and forest ecosystem. Slowing down the creek’s flow and creating still pools may help increase groundwater levels in the creek and nearby forest. This will be especially important during times of drought as our climate changes. This collaborative effort among agencies, nonprofits, youth corps, and volunteers will also help manage weeds and restore native plants.

People do not just visit Muir Woods. They come from around the globe to pay homage to nature in this cathedral of redwoods. The trees’ ages range from 400 to 800 years, their height up to 250 feet. Flat easy trails loop through the groves. Muir Woods National Monument was established on January 9, 1908 when President Roosevelt signed legislation to protect an old-growth coast redwood forest from destruction.

In the light gaps beneath the redwood trees are red alders, California big leaf maples, tanoaks, and Douglas fir. The forest floor is covered in redwood sorrel, ferns, fungi, duff, and debris. Several bridges cross Redwood Creek, which flows through the park year-round. Wildlife residents include the endangered coho salmon fingerlings, Pacific wren, woodpeckers, owls, deer, chipmunks, skunks, river otters, and squirrels to name a few.

Despite nature’s recovery being impossible without them, just 7% of UK woods are in good condition for wildlife. The Woodland Trust’s new report sets out what needs to be done to restore our woods and trees in England for both wildlife and people.

⚠️Protecting and planting trees and woods for #NatureRecovery is not enough. We need to ensure they are restored to good ecological condition.

🌱 This includes extending woodland areas, restoring natural processes, using a mixture of woodland creation methods, and reintroducing keystone species.

🌳 Recovering nature is impossible without the restoration of our native woods and trees.

The government’s role in nature’s recovery

To nurture resilient landscapes that will harness nature’s recovery, we must work together, underpinned by actions only governments can take.

We urgently need to:

• improve the protection of existing native woods and trees
• incentivise excellence in conservation land management to restore nature rich woodlands
• create new native wooded habitats
• bring nature closer to where people live, particularly in urban areas
• implement Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs) that also help us build resilience and adapt to a changing climate.

Helping nature recover at scale

We can’t restore nature by relying on one single approach. Policymakers must consider the role of everything from a single tree to an entire landscape.

The recommendations in our report are based around helping nature recover at three different scales: landscape scale, woodland scale, and tree scale.

1. Landscape scale nature recovery

Landscape scale nature recovery means working to protect and bring back nature across the whole landscape, rather than in isolated pockets of land. It isn’t just about nature reserves or specific woodlands – it’s about the trees, hedges, rivers, agricultural land, cities and much more between them. Together, they add up to one integrated landscape that supports much more wildlife and helps it (and us) become more resilient to climate change.

2. Woodland scale nature recovery

Woodland scale nature recovery isn’t just about planting trees. It’s about caring properly for the woods we already have: balancing groves of denser trees with more open areas; encouraging natural regeneration; creating glades for flower-rich grasslands and ponds; leaving deadwood to be used by wildlife. It’s about boosting the health of the very soil the trees grow from.

3. Tree scale nature recovery

Individual trees and groups of trees outside woods – scattered through the landscape in hedges, fields, churchyards, gardens, parks and housing estates – have a hugely important yet unsung role in nature recovery. Take the oak tree – a single old oak can support 2,300 species, making it an ecosystem in its own right.

Campaign for nature’s recovery

The Environment Act 2021 made it compulsory for every area in England to have a plan for nature, called a Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS).

Please help The Woodland Trust make sure these plans are ambitious; involve local communities; and prioritise the protection, restoration and expansion of native woods and trees.

Having destroyed 32ha of ancient wood in 2013, new quarry plans threaten at least another 50ha.

A staggering 50 hectares of irreplaceable ancient woodland could be in danger if Kent County Council allows Hermitage Quarry expansion plans to go ahead. If approved, the loss could even surpass ancient woodland losses from the Lower Thames Crossing and HS2 schemes combined.

The Woodland Trust gathered over 25 000 objection to plans to expand Gallagher’s Hermitage Quarry at Oaken Wood in Barming

Decimating a wood and its wildlife already on the brink

Oaken Wood is an irreplaceable ecosystem home to protected species including dormice, reptiles and bats.

The proposal doesn’t specify how much woodland it would impact, but our analysis suggests over 50 hectares are under serious threat. Even more would be exposed to long-term damage. The total area is equivalent to over 70 football pitches.

The wood has already suffered significant damage after a quarry extension in 2013 took away a vast 32 hectares of precious habitat. Now that wildlife could be pushed into an even smaller space.

Quick fact ~ Oaken Wood is a Plantation on Ancient Woodland Site (PAWS). These are ancient woods that have been felled and replanted, often with non-native trees. They’re still hugely important, with historical and ecological features that are vital links to the original ancient wood.

Pitting built heritage against natural heritage

Supporters of the quarry may say that the expansion is necessary to meet demand for Kentish ragstone which is used to restore old buildings. But the protection of our natural world for wildlife, climate and people is equally, if not more, important.

They may also argue that they’re compensating for the loss by translocating ancient woodland soil. But there’s little evidence this works, and it will never make up for the devastation of 50+ hectares of irreplaceable habitat.

Kent County Council proposes to allow Hermitage Quarry to expand by 96 hectares, to allow Gallagher to extract a further 20 million tonnes of ragstone.

Officers said there is an expected shortfall of 17.4 million tonnes in the provision of hard rock extraction over the plan period up to 2039.

KCC had previously carried out a “call for sites” inviting landowners across the county to put forward suitable plots for ragstone extraction, but only one came foward – Gallagher’s. The company proposed an extension to the south and west of its existing quarry.

It says the extension would ensure the future of 190 jobs at the quarry and points out that ragstone is an essential material for the repair of many heritage buildings.

Gallagher says the extension to the quarry could supply ragstone at a rate of around 900,000 tonnes a year.

At the end of its life, the quarry would be restored to its original levels with inert materials and be returned to mixed native woodland and meadow.

Cllr Tony Harwood (Lib Dem) said: “I campaigned alongside many local people to ensure that the National Planning Policy Framework contained effective protection for ancient woodland and other irreplaceable habitats. “Little did I know that the first big test of this policy would be in Maidstone.

“The scale of ancient woodland destruction proposed is immense and if allowed would be the largest area of ancient woodland lost in the British Isles for many decades.

“The promoters of the quarry extension are making much of the fact that most of the wood was replanted with sweet chestnut to produce poles for the hop industry in the 18th and 19th centuries.

“That said, many native trees and shrubs still flourish across Oaken Wood, including pedunculate and sessile oak, hornbeam, hazel, silver birch, common hawthorn, dogwood, rowan, dog rose and holly.

“However, an ancient woodland is the sum of its parts and it is the undisturbed soils and their biome that contain the real wonder of ancient woodland.

“Significantly, it is probably the presence of the broadleaved and deciduous sweet chestnut, that has protected the wood to date by giving it a commercial value that has prevented it from being cleared and ploughed-up for agriculture.

“The presence of sweet chestnut has also contributed towards the remarkable biodiversity of the wood, historically, the best site in Kent for breeding nightjars.

“This is because active rotational coppice management has meant that all important structural diversity has been maintained over the centuries.

“A further key concern is the impact on Net Zero objectives should 50 hectares of ancient woodland be destroyed for a quarry extension. The quantity of carbon sequestered by the undisturbed woodland soils and within the many thousands of trees is immense”.

“Such an unprecedented loss of ancient woodland would be of national policy significance in terms of the precedent it could set and its impact upon wildlife and climate.”

Cllr Harwood called for the Secretary of State to step in to “ensure an appropriate level of national policy scrutiny and scientific oversight”.

He said: “Too much is at stake for all of us if we get this wrong.”

The quarry extension is also being opposed by the Green Party.

Campaigner Rachel Rodwell has aready collected a petition of 400 signatures against the plan which she has handed in to KCC.

She said: “There is an ecological emergency unfolding around us yet KCC and Gallagher seem to think it is quite reasonable to destroy a huge swathe of ancient woodland for profit and pretty stones for houses and aggregate for more roads.

“Ancient woodland cannot be replaced. It takes over 400 years for the soil biome to mature. It is protected as it has a level of diversity not seen in new woodland.

“With the loss of 70% of species during the past 50 years, this plan does the opposite of what the world needs. If we are to ensure a future for our children we must start planting forests, not destroying them.”

Lance Taylor, chief executive at the Gallagher Group, said: “It is important to clarify that only part of the area that has been identified at this early mineral plan review stage is designated as Plantation on Ancient Woodland Site (PAWS).

“Gallagher Aggregates has established a proven and well-respected restoration and biodiversity enhancement plan at Hermitage Quarry.

Jack Taylor, the Woodland Trust’s lead campaigner, said: “Ripping up more wooded habitat – that provides such vast benefit to climate, nature and people – is senseless.

“Combined with the scarce amount of ancient woodland remaining, it’s glaringly obvious that Oaken Wood must be spared the axe.

“We are asking people to join us in telling Kent County Council just how outrageous this plan is.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.kentonline.co.uk/malling/news/amp/thousands-oppose-plans-for-outrageous-destruction-of-ancie-289394/

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/protecting-trees-and-woods/campaign-with-us/hermitage-quarry/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=campaigning&utm_content=hermitagequarry&fbclid=IwAR3gkluOrABpc960uG5u9XoJw494-ijBLj-robEtggZ2DjgfL76oTKUusyY