Largest & Tallest Coast Redwoods, Parks, Photos
Redwood National Park, Prairie Creek, Jedediah Smith Redwoods
With Lost Monarch: largest & Hyperion: tallest. Maps & Hiking ... Books ... Photos
Copyright 2008 - 2010 by Mario Vaden
Welcome to coast redwoods, and 200 photos: #3 has more big trunk views. Find links to researcher Sillett & explorer Taylor. Photographs include albino redwood, Jedediah Smith redwoods, Rockefeller Forest. Avenue of the Giants, Lost Monarch, Prairie Creek redwoods, Iluvatar, Stout redwood and more. Some content like Hyperion or Indians continues on extra pages.
You will find many info leads for groves & hiking destinations, maps, lodging and reading. Photos also include El Viejo del Norte, Del Norte Titan, Stratosphere Giant, Howland Hill Giant, and Terex Titan. The photo at right is at the Grove of Titans in Jedediah Smith redwoods: trunk 25' wide in this view.
My time in the redwoods is hiking, camping and a bit of work assisting. The redwoods are like an outdoor museum which led to interesting conversations and new friends. For visitors from afar who need a local guide, drop an email for a name or two. Not for Hyperion or such, but for a memorable redwood experience.
Scouting & Exploring: 2009 provided opportunities to explore with Michael Taylor, Chris Atkins & Prof. Steve Sillett, in Redwood National Park and Jedediah Smith Redwoods. The days were strenuous, yet enjoyable. Miles of deep forest exploring and discoveries. Plus a chance to lend a hand with locating tall redwoods related to LIDAR data. Continued on: Exploring Redwoods
Best places & photo albums: #3 has more of the big trunk views
Over 220 images. Note Frame #2. Image Policy: for websites, projects, Stock Photo, Wikimedia : Image Use Policy
9 largest coast redwoods + tallest redwoods list + more
Coast redwoods provide many hikes, and drives: Bald Hills Rd. or Avenue of the Giants. Expect park staff & rangers to be helpful: they have been for me. Keep in mind that northern California has the best places to see redwoods. Oregon redwoods are a forest walk for locals.
More to read ...
Dan Bain Redwood Photos || Redwood King of Humboldt || Cathedral Grove Canada
1964 National Geographic || 1899 Nat Geo || Redwood Doctor || Dr. Donald Perry
Railroading Redwoods || Bull Creek Giant & Ishii Hiroaki || Redwood & Forest Facts
Forest Service Employees Article January - February 2001 || Conifer Country Education
Centurion Tallest Eucalyptus || Redwood conifers.org || Photos Multimedia Nat. Park ServiceThe menus below are for pages about a few places of interest among the north redwood parks or in close proximity which provide entertainment, scenery or resources:
BOOK REVIEWS & READING SUGGESTIONS:
Several redwoods in this page and albums are mentioned in The Wild Trees by Richard Preston: a redwood adventure and fact storehouse. See Book Review: The Wild Trees. Forest Giants of the Pacific Coast by Robert Van Pelt is also in that review page: a giant for information and photographs. In October 2009, National Geographic Magazine published an article The Tallest Trees Redwoods, including the Michael Fay Redwood Transect: he walked about 1800 miles among redwoods. Here is the Fay redwood transect file for Google Earth: load kmz redwood transect. The Nat Geo magazine is listed below. It has a big Redwood photo fold-out by Nick Nichols.
Select For Details
Preston
Dunning
Noss
Hill
Barbour
Rohde
October 2009 
Barbour
Carranco
Rohde
Grove of Titans & Atlas Grove
This web page all began when I first located the Grove of Titans. A bunch of folks enjoyed reading about the experience, so I moved my adventure and comments to a full page of its own:
Continued: Grove of Titans aka 'GOT'
The Grove of Titans was discovered by Prof. Steve Sillett & Mr. Michael Taylor, and Atlas grove was discovered by Taylor, while explorating Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. The location is undisclosed. Atlas Grove is in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, north of the town Orick. Image at right: Iluvatar redwood in Prairie Creek redwoods. It is the 3rd largest coast redwood known.
Over the past century, a trickle of people exploring the north redwoods have entered portions of Atlas Grove: the majority passing by, but not recognizing champion dimensions. Just a handful of people besides botanists know this grove.
Discovery by Steve Sillett and Michael Taylor meannt being first to document for the record, because others may have appreciated the grove in a casual fashion. Atlas redwood grove does preserve markings which must date from near World War II era: predating The Wild Trees story, connoting awareness in the past.
The redwoods of Atlas Grove caught the attention of Michael Taylor differently than folks preceding him. He was on a quest to discover, measure and record redwoods. Names were given like Atlas, Zeus, Iluvatatar, Pleiades, Bell, Rhea, Kronos, Broken Top, Buena Vista, Promethius and Ballantine. The Four Horsemen, have one called Poseidon with a huge canopy fern garden called the Heart of Poseidon. See here:
Image at right: two-thirds diameter of Lost Monarch in the Grove of Titans, described in Preston's book. Michael Vaden is dwarfed, the image not showing the other one-third diamter to the left. At 26' wide, its larger than all but 7 giant Sequioa, with a trunk that's a few inches wider than General Sherman at chest level.
Redwood hiking is the best exercise I've ever done. Beats the gym. I would not explore for big trees alone, because I do not revere forests. I enjoy them. Exploring provides recreation that overlaps my professional work and education. For me, the biggest redwoods provide landmarks to memory peg learning. Redwoods should glorify God, not displace him.
For size, Oregon redwoods don't compare with north California redwoods. To see huge redwoods, pick Jedediah Smith redwoods like Boy Scout Tree trail and Stout Grove, or Prairie Creek Redwoods: Brown Creek trail or James Irvine trail. Minutes from Oregon and why I occassionally camp at Harris Beach State Park by Brookings, Oregon, for the best coastline and forest.
The coast redwoods of Del Norte and Humboldt county have a rainforest, unlike areas like The Trail of 100 Giants or Kings Canyon in the Giant Sequoias. The coast redwood forests and trails tend to be more lush and green: and the coast redwoods seem to be revealed as you move along.
This page began Lost Monarch was 1st, Iluvatar 2nd and Del Norte Titan 3rd for trunk volume. But changes came to pass as research climbing and discovery continued. Redwoods trade places for biggest or tallest as they grow, break, or research teams re-measure.
Photo right: Screaming Titans is an undisclosed redwood at the Grove of Titans.
An anonymous redwood appeared in 2008 on a Humboldt State University page, for 39,100 cubic feet as a new 2nd biggest redwood, at 348.8' tall. It brought to mind Fusion Giant at 348.6' tall and 22.4' DBH from old tall tree list. August 2008 in Redwood National Park, I found 2 redwoods close to that diameter. The first was 23.5' wide, and very high on a steep slope in Redwood National Park. That one I now refer to as Episkopos,
Eh-pis'-kop-oss = Overseer. That is the Sequoia semperivens which etched in my thoughts that another largest redwood may exist until every acre of remaining old growth is thoroughly scouted. 23' of DBH is a beastly trunk for steep hillside 300 feet elevation above a creek in the sunny exposure.
The same day in Redwood National Park yielded another redwood of 22.9' diameter, which turned out to be Fusion Giant. Photos of both are in the albums. A small image of Fusion Giant is on this page. Fusion Giant is now called Melkor. Fusion Giant was already discovered, but just measured for tall height years earlier. Fusion Giant was as massive as Del Norte Titan for years, but not realized until years later.
Comment for Redwood National Park: several species of fish can be found in Redwood National Park, including salmon, steelhead and trout. Factors like shade or frequency of pools affect those. The habitat changed significantly due to logging, and is continually studied. Coho for example, need summer water below 64° F. Another species affected was the seabird Marbled Murrelet which prefer old growth conifer nesting. Extreme logging of old growth was a big factor for putting this species at risk. This is one reason that permits for climbing redwoods are seasonal.
The image at right is a gimme, along Drury Parkway in Prairie Creek redwoods. One of the large redwoods along that route. Several of the trails in the park have big redwoods that are comparable. Prairie Creek Trail, Brown Creek Trail and elsewhere. Some of the giants are next to trails, others are set back.
Comparing recent largest redwoods to historical records, others were much larger than known Giant Sequoia. Prior to 1800s / 1900s logging, coast redwoods were largest and tallest. One was Lindsey Creek Tree with a reported trunk of 90,000 cubic feet: 3,248 tons, and fell during a 1905 storm: 6,496,000 pounds. The Lindsey Creek redwood was written about in a 1905 Humboldt Times Standard article: still 19' diameter 130' above ground level. There is a report of a 70,000 cubic foot redwood logged in 1926: the Crannell Giant. Michael Taylor added entry for Crannell Giant, aka Maple Creek Tree, at his website, with info from Lumberman Magazine, October 1926, page 109: 61,573 ft³, 21' diameter, over 18' diameter at 100' high, over 15' diameter at 200' high. Total height was 308 feet tall. Photos of the Maple Creek redwood, Crannell Giant, exist along with published dimensions. Look for Taylor's link under Grove of Titans above, and see 1/27/2010 newsletter entry for about these giant coast redwoods. He added that a cookie of Crannell Giant is the entire northern wall of the One Log tree House on Broadway St., Eureka California: sign states origin from the Maple Creek redwood near Crannell.
The large redwood in the photo at right below is in the Grove of Titans. Almost 23' wide, its the Del Norte Titan. The base reminds me of ancient Greek columns. The natural garden of ferns provides a green corridor with the backdrop of taller plants.
Trivia & Online Articles: when you have a moment, here are a few more pages, photos or articles. The first 2 are online:
Below, the Day of Discovery is an article excerpt from one chapter from The Wild Trees. It covers when the Grove of Titans was found at the end of a full day trek through the heart of Jedediah Smith redwoods.
Above, Climbing the Redwoods was an article prior to release of The Wild Trees. The New York Times story describes the redwoods,climbing, and introduces Atlas Grove and Adventure redwood in Prairie Creek redwoods.
WW II Bombing: A Japanese aviator Fujita bombed the west coast, September 1942, attempting to start fires near the north redwoods, retaliation for the April 1942 Doolittle Raid. The plane was transported by a submarine. That was the only WW II air bombing of the continental United States. occuring near Crescent City and Brookings. See: Reference 1 | Reference 2 | Reference 3
Bigfoot Legend: There have been several reports of a Bigfoot or Sasquatch in the redwoods. If Bigfoot amuses you, a room size Bigfoot trap was built in the 1970s with permission from the USDA Forest Service, east of the redwoods in Oregon. Located about 3 miles north of the California and Oregon Border. To see that page and GPS, go to: The BIGFOOT Trap
Hyperion: Photo at right
115.61m | 379.1' tall, 15.88' dbh
Image use: Image Use PolicyMore at Hyperion Redwood Page
January 2009, was the month I located Hyperion redwood, the tallest known tree in the world: 379.1 feet tall and a trunk over 15 feet wide at DBH.
Hyperion redwood was discovered September 8, 2006, by Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor, naturalists who explored California coast redwoods including Redwood National Park. Preliminary measurement was done with a laser rangefinder. In September 2006, Prof. Steve Sillett climbed Hyperion for a tape drop measurement filmed by National Geographic. A rod can be used also, to measure tips overhead out of reach.
Continued at: Hyperion Redwood Page
Helios & Icarus: In Spring of 2009, I located Helios redwood also, memorable for the effort to get there and scenic tranquility. Its a fine looking redwood. Because its trunk looks bigger than Hyperion, Helios seems more husky and primeval. But the diameter is comparable. The grove has many fallen limbs and limbs concealed under a heavy cover of sword ferns, and fast progress is asking for injury. The redwood Icarus is in the same grove. The closest stream has been called Dry Heaves Creek and the grove Helios Grove. Helios must get water from a spring because its a quite a ways up the mountain. Apparently, Helios could overtake Hyperion as tallest in time.
www.redwoodhikes.com
Excellent redwood hiking maps and photos. redwoodhikes.com is worth 5 star rating ***** ~ hands-down the best site for reviewing grove and hiking destinations. Redwood photos, trail ratings, big detailed maps, elevations and more. Covers Muir Woods, Montgomery Woods, Jedediah Smith, Prairie Creek, Redwood National Park and more. Be sure to take a moment and visit : Redwood Hikes ~ www.redwoodhikes.com
Some lodging, campgrounds & RV resorts are in the directory at the end of the page. Here are a few options to look at for general online maps and park information.
Oregon Redwoods Nature Trail 1111 ..... Muir Woods & Trails Muir Woods
NPS Redwoods NPS Map Redwood Parks ..... Redwood National & State Parks Campgrounds
Humbold Redwoods State Park & Camping Maps ..... Save the Redwoods Explore a Park Map
Humboldt Lagoons State Park Lagoons, Hiking, Fishing
Most of the largest and tallest coast redwoods are in the northern parks, like Rockefeller Forest and Avenue of the Giants, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Redwood National Park, and Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.
Image at right: 6th Largest Howland Hill Giant
Indians and the Redwood Coast ~ One of my recent interests are Indian tribes among the redwoods. The workmanship of some Indian crafts displayed at the Kuchel Visitor Center in Orick, California, inspired curiosity.
If you want to see a great collection of Native American Indian artifacts, drop in at the Trees_of_Mystery in Klamath. They have a fine museum in several rooms with one of the best private collections in the country. One book worth ordering: Handbook of the Indians of California Bulletin. A steep price increase from soft to hardback. But an affordable entry level cost.
Continued on: see Indian Tribes of the Redwood Coast
REDWOODS & SITES OF INTEREST
Most of these pertain to redwoods and Redwood Coast for lodging, tours, guides, camgrounds or dining. Redwood National Park is managed by the US Forest Service. Contact them for information too.
Redwood Chambers of Commerce in this menu
PHOTOGRAPHY by Lowell Cottle Professional photos. Naturalist and photographer. Redwoods, birds and more.
M. D. VADEN CARGO TRAILER CONVERSION: A few years ago, for camping, I switched from an RV travel trailer to a cargo conversion. For those interested: M. D. Vaden Cargo Trailer Conversion
Redwood Tree Profile by Flower Essence Society ~ Fernwood Resort Big Sur Motel, Cabins, Camping
Historic Requa Inn in Klamath: National Georgraphic Traveler magazine 2009 Stay List. B&B.
Palms Motel & Cafe Orick, California. Motel, restaurant. Wi-fi & Indoor Pool. Home made pies and jellies.
Trinidad Bay Bed & Breakfast Quintessential B&B || Redwood Education Guide Nearly 100 pages.
The Redwood Coast Nature Guide Jenny Hanson, naturalist & guide for individuals, families, groups, people w/ limitations.
Redwoods RV Resort The RV resort offers a terrific camping combination for lovers of dramatic natural beauty.
Trees of Mystery South of Crescent City: cable car ride, gift shop and the Forest Cafe
Benbow Hotel and Resort near Garberville and Avenue of the Giants. Tudor-style hotel,. pool-side fun, RV resort and golf.
North Coast Photos with Redwoods North Coast photography || Tarol's Webpage Park Ranger personal site.
101 Things to do in Humboldt County Ad magazine, printed and online, full of places to see and do..
Drive Through Redwood 175 miles north of San Francisco in the hamlet of Leggett, is the Chandelier drive-thru redwood
Curly Redwood Lodge Motel Highway 101 at Crescent City, California. Near food and shopping
California Redwood Coast Photos, places, food, lodging, events.
The Chart Room An excellent restaurant for seafood and other meals. This is where I eat most often in Crescent City.
Gilbert Redwood Excursions Redwood tours near San Francisco
KOA Redwoods Campground ~ Crescent City, California. On 17 forested acres
Explore Del Norte Northern California,, world-renowned for towering ancient redwoods
Redwood Adventures Tours, hiking and more. Just outside Orick.
Highway 199 ~ Redwood Highway Check out the Redwood Information and Map option too.
Sequoia sempervirens A lot of info and photos || Ancient Redwoods RV Park Home of the Hollow Log Truck, in Redcrest
Humboldt Redwoods Interpretive A redwood website that's been around for a while.
North California and Redwoods Virtual Photography PIck a park and view one of the 360 degree photography tours.
Maps below: left, from Portland; right, from San Francisco
The best best place to see redwoods is Jedediah Smith Redwoods between Hiouchi and Crescent City, Prairie Creek Redwoods by Orick, and Humboldt Redwoods near Redcrest, south of Fortuna.
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