Muir Woods National Monument

2015.09.24

I have seen a lot of information about giant trees in recent years, but I could not imagine how it would feel to see such a tree in person. Therefore, I was really looking forward to visiting Muir Woods National Monument since it would be the first giant tree forest that I had ever seen.

The National Park Service website said parking was limited so they recommend that travelers visit the park in the early morning. As I mentioned in the traveling note of Muir Beach Overlook, my schedule was delayed so there were a lot of cars parking along the road side when I arrived. Fortunately, I still found a parking place in the nearest parking lot.

I looked around in the visitor center for books, postcards and souvenirs, then showed the ranger my annual pass which allowed me to enter the park at no additional cost. I bought two brochures in the visitor center, one elaborated the history of the Historic Walking Tour and the other talked about the ecosystems and features about the trails. Since my time was limited, I only hiked on an easy level trail---Historic Walking Tour, which started from a rustic log gate by the visitor center.

The rustic log gate is a reconstruction of the 1934 original.

The History of Muir Woods National Monument

Before the 1800s, a lot of redwood forests blanketed many northern California coastal valleys and the Muir Woods National Monument is one of them. Because the valley here is isolated and difficult to access, it protected the trees from logger until the early 20th century. Then in 1905, when the development of new logging technology threatened the forest, a prominent businessman named William Kent and his wife Elizabeth Thacher Kent bought this redwood-filled canyon to protect one of the last uncut stands of redwoods. Two years later, the North Coast Water Company tried to obtain title to the land by eminent domain, hoping to build a dam and reservoir. To stop this maneuver, they donated the land to the federal government and proposed changing the area to a national monument. Gifford Pinchot, the first director of the U.S. Forest Service, recommended Kent's proposal to President Roosevelt, who used the 1906 Antiquities Act to sign an executive order creating the national monument on January 9, 1908. Kent proposed that the area be named in honor of conservationist and writer John Muir, who was the mutual friend of the President and Kent. Kent later served in Congress, and in 1916 he introduced legislation that created the National Park Service in 1916.

John Muir later wrote to William Kent, saying "This is the best tree-lover's monument that could possibly be found in all the forests of the world. You have done me great honor, and I am proud of it."

This tree is dedicated to Gifford Pinchot

A sprout of the redwood

Thick bark

It looked like they were having a "high"-level meeting

Looking redwood from a triangle

Bohemian Grove

California's renowned Bohemian Club held its annual midsummer encampment on this spot in September 1892. The Bohemian Club was founded in San Francisco in 1872 as a men's club. Its original membership consisted of newspapermen, artists, actors, and musicians. By the 1880s, newer members included bankers, politicians, and railroad tycoons. Each summer they met outdoors to camp, drink, play cards, listen to music, and perform plays. To prepare for the event, club members built a road into the canyon, set up camping and dining facilities, and created a large amphitheater complete with log seating. A low wall topped by colored lanterns surrounded the amphitheater and formal entrance-way. The amphitheater was called "Bohemia's Redwood Temple," and it was dominated by a 70-foot-high plaster statue of Buddha which was modeled after the famous thirteenth-century bronze Buddha in Kamakura, Japan. Although the Buddha did not last, the legacy of the encampment lives on in the grove's name.  

Redwood burl

As America's tenth national monument, Muir Woods National Monument was the first privately owned natural resource which was protected by federal law. The successful action inspired the creation of the 80,400-acre Golden Gate National Parks.