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Where to find redwoods in Sonoma County parks
By Stephen Nett
Once upon a time, an unusual type of towering tree from the age of dinosaurs grew in groves around the globe, thanks to an amazing set of survival abilities. Gradually, they disappeared or were cut down, but some of the last of their kind are now huddled into a narrow strip along the California coast.
Protected in parks around Sonoma County, groves of coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) offer cool summer shade, a touch of awe and wonder and a chance to contemplate beings who can live 1,000 years or more and reach heights of 200 to 300 feet.
Below are some locations where you can spend time with these giants in Sonoma County’s Regional Parks. And before you go, here are some interesting features to know about these magnificent creatures.
Why do we consider coast redwoods special?
Many find towers of redwoods magnificently beautiful in their natural setting, like graceful cathedral or temple columns. But what may be less obvious is that coast redwoods are also highly evolved. The features they’ve developed over the past 100 million years – special tissues, chemistry, engineering and growth and reproductive strategies – make them highly sophisticated marvels of survival.
How do coast redwoods live so long?
First, redwoods have found ways to protect themselves from the mortal threats all trees face: fire, insects, disease and weather. The redwood’s thick spongy bark helps ward off passing flames, and the wood is rich in the chemical tannin, which not only gives the tree its distinctive color and is a natural fire retardant, but is also toxic to insects, fungi and diseases. It’s so effective, fallen redwood logs can take a few centuries to rot on the forest floor.
Coastal redwoods can face intense storms and winds. Surprisingly, coast redwood roots don’t grow very deep, often 10 feet or less. Instead, they form a massive woody base and underground extensions of up to 100 feet that interlock with their neighbors’. The entire grove or forest becomes a living, sturdy supportive network.
Hikers at Monte Rio Redwoods Regional Park and Open Space Preserve
How do redwood forests sustain themselves?
Redwoods produce seeds, roughly 100,000 a year for a full-grown giant. But they also form tissue growths on their trunks called burls, that are fully capable of growing trees themselves, like clones, should the parent tree topple or die.
And unlike oak, pine, fir and other common forest species, coast sequoias can sprout new trees from their stumps and their roots. Look for this in local forests that were logged in the 1800’s – you’ll find groups of tall trees now standing in a circle around the stump of the original giant tree.
How do these redwood high-rises work?
Redwoods love and need lots of water and use intricate cellular plumbing to draw water molecules in long unbroken chains upward to its leaves. The tree has evolved different types of leaves, one of which can absorb water directly from the air. That allows them to take full advantage of coastal fog, which can carry surprisingly large amounts of water inland.
The other type of redwood leaf has a waxy surface and is also perfectly designed to ‘comb’ the fog, producing droplets that fall to the base of the tree. This “redwood rain” can dampen a campout, but it helps the trees, ferns and many other forest species survive many months without rain.
Visiting redwoods in Sonoma County’s Regional Parks
After living for about 20 million years, most of Sonoma County’s ancient redwood groves are gone, many of them harvested in the last 180 years. But fortunately, there are locations in the Regional Parks where visitors can spend the day, or even camp, under the forest canopy. Most are second-growth trees – regrown after the original trees were cut – but since redwoods can climb high in just a few decades, many new groves are already full and magnificent. Even skinny trees can be centuries old. Here's where to find some:
Gualala Point Regional Park
At the Mendocino County border, the Gualala River runs northwest through redwood-covered hills and canyons, and at the point it meets the sea, Gualala Point Regional Park campground offers a chance to sleep with and under a towering redwood grove. Several campsites let you place your tent within touching distance of the big trees. One ring of massive trees stands in bright green redwood sorrel, and they all happily drip when heavy fog rolls in.
Stillwater Cove Regional Park
Tucked between Jenner and Stewarts Point, Stillwater Cove Regional Park’s gorgeous Canyon Trail follows Stockhoff Creek inland through a full, living redwood forest. At first, you’re within sound of the surf (a trail spur heads west to the beach) but then climb modestly up the wooded canyon, which has abundant wildlife and wildflowers. The region was last harvested around 1850, so the second-growth trees are fully established and have grown to impressive heights and widths.
North Sonoma Mountain Regional Park & Preserve
There’s a lovely small stand of redwoods in North Sonoma Mountain Regional Park & Open Space Preserve, situated on the rising slope of Sonoma Mountain on the east side of Sonoma County. The trees have found a sheltered canyon along the south fork of Matanzas Creek, which keeps them watered. From the parking lot, it’s a short walk on Ridge Trail, where you’ll find picnic tables, plenty of shade, a burbling stream and a chance to gaze up at the redwood tops far overhead.
Riverfront Regional Park
Not far from Windsor and Healdsburg, Riverfront Regional Park holds an impressive grove of redwoods, standing in their native habitat along the Russian River. The park hugs a lake formed when miners dug out deep gravel deposits. Redwood Hill Trail wanders through redwoods near the parking lot, and the giant trees form awe-inspiring columns and canopy over tables at this popular picnic area.
Monte Rio Redwoods Regional Park and Preserve
Not far from the Russian River village of Monte Rio, the aptly named Monte Rio Redwoods Regional Park and Open Space Preserve is a new Regional Parks addition, with 500 acres of redwood forest mixed with Douglas Fir, huckleberry, ferns and other forest dwellers. Dutch Bill Creek waters the canyon bottom and redwood stands, and several miles of trails climb uphill through redwood forest, across streams and canyons, providing a first-hand experience of the redwood’s natural habitat.
And then there’s Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve
No mention of Sonoma County redwoods is complete without Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve in Guerneville. This is a state-owned property, not a regional park, but it is perhaps Sonoma County’s best-known destination for redwood viewing and includes the “Col. Armstrong Tree”, estimated to be 1,400 years old.
Know before you go
- Parking in the Regional Parks is $7 or free for Regional Parks members.
- Dogs are not allowed on trails at North Sonoma Mountain.
- Always bring water. Some parks do not have drinking water sources.
- Follow Leave No Trace guidelines.
Stephen Nett is a Bodega Bay-based naturalist, writer and speaker.
Published July 2024