Redwood National Park

Redwood National Park in northern California preserves one of the world’s most extraordinary forests. Established as a National Park in 1968 and expanded in 1978, the park protects the tallest trees on Earth, along with ancient prairies, oak woodlands, wild rivers, and nearly forty miles of rugged Pacific coastline.

As remarkable as the coastline and rivers are, it is the redwoods that draw me back. I have visited these magnificent forests twice, and each time I left thinking that I needed to return. There is something so remarkable about walking among trees that have stood for hundreds, and in some cases more than two thousand years. They were already centuries old when Columbus crossed the Atlantic and had been growing long before the first European explorers reached North America.

Standing beneath these giants changes your perspective. The trunks rise so high that it is difficult to see their tops, and the forest becomes surprisingly quiet. Sunlight filters gently through the canopy while ferns carpet the forest floor, creating an atmosphere unlike anywhere else I have visited.

The redwoods have a way of making us feel both small and connected. Small because of their immense size and age, yet connected because they remind us that we are only one brief chapter in a much longer story of nature. They have quietly witnessed centuries of change and continue to stand with a patience that is difficult to comprehend.

Of all the national parks I have visited, Redwood remains one that calls me back. Some places are beautiful. Others become touchstones. For me, walking among the redwoods is an experience that continues to inspire wonder every time I think about it.