Redwood parks of the
San Francisco Bay Area
California
Sunset and summer fog on the road to Big Basin
The Bay Area has a lot of redwoods, but only Big Basin had a large, pristine old-growth redwood forest that compared with the North Coast parks, and it was unfortunately destroyed in a major fire in 2020.
Muir Woods, Portola Redwoods, and Henry Cowell have smaller but very scenic old-growth redwood groves. The other redwood parks on this page are mainly second-growth parks, although some of them have small amounts of old growth.
Non-redwood parks
Bay Area non-redwood parks
Want more variety? See this page for coverage of parks throughout the Bay Area.
Old-growth parks
★★
Portola Redwoods
State Park
A nice quiet park that appears to be mostly old growth, but the trees are pretty small. Has a small campground. The Peters Creek grove is the most impressive in the park, but it requires a long and difficult hike.
★★
Muir Woods
National Monument
The busiest redwood park, mainly because it’s close to San Francisco. The old-growth grove is very scenic, although the redwoods aren’t especially large. Reservations are required to park anywhere near the entrance.
★
Henry Cowell
Redwoods State Park
Features a small and very popular old-growth grove just outside Santa Cruz. The park also has a campground and an extensive second-growth trail system.
★
Big Basin
Redwoods State Park
Big Basin once had the largest and most scenic stand of old-growth redwoods in the Bay Area, but a major fire burned through in 2020 and the park doesn’t really look like old growth any more.
Parks with small amounts of old growth
★★
Pescadero Creek
County Park
A remote, redwood-blanketed cluster of parks with some very nice second-growth trails. There are also a few patches of old growth, most notably tiny Heritage Grove.
★★
Butano
State Park
A quiet, remote park with a remarkably lush pocket of redwoods in a coastal canyon. The canyon bottom, where the biggest redwoods were, has been heavily logged, but some old growth uplands remain.
★★
Samuel P. Taylor
State Park
A scenic and enjoyable park in a lush redwood-filled gorge. The Pioneer Tree Trail has a tiny but nice old-growth grove; the rest of the park is second growth.
★
Roy’s Redwoods
Open Space Preserve
It’s not in pristine condition, but Roy’s Redwoods has what appears to be a small, off-trail old-growth grove.
Second-growth parks
★★
Purisima Creek Redwoods
Open Space Preserve
A scenic coastal park with shady redwood canyons and dramatic vistas.
★★
Redwood
Regional Park
Fog flowing through the Golden Gate supports a remarkably lush strip of second-growth redwoods in the East Bay, most of which are in this park.
★
Joaquin Miller
Park
A small Oakland park mostly covered with second-growth redwoods.
More second-growth parks
★
Huddart
County Park
A shady park above suburban Woodside with an extensive trail system and a large developed area.
★
El Corte de Madera Creek
County Park
Mainly a mountain biking destination, this park has lots of rough, steep, and challenging trails.
★
Skyline Trail
California Water Service Company
A long trail just below Skyline Boulevard. Includes a little-known patch of upland old-growth redwoods.
★
Sanborn
County Park
This park in the green hills above Saratoga has a large developed area and a network of trails that climb up to Skyline Ridge.
★
Wilder Ranch
State Park
A large park outside Santa Cruz with open fields and oak woodlands in the southern half and some heavily-logged canyon-bottom redwoods in the north.
★
The Forest of Nisene Marks
State Park
A large park outside Santa Cruz entirely covered with dense, heavily-logged second-growth forest.
© 2022 David Baselt