Redwood Country

The coastal redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) is the tallest tree species on earth, and its range a narrow fog belt from Monterey to southern Oregon represents one of the rarest forest types in North America. The trees survive because coastal fog provides moisture during summer dry seasons, and the trees' thick tannin-rich bark makes them nearly fire-proof and pest-resistant. Hyperion, the tallest living tree at 380.3 feet, grows in Redwood National Park; its location is kept secret to prevent trampling. Redwood National and State Parks (a combined management of national and three state parks) protect over 139,000 acres, including about 45% of all remaining old-growth coast redwood forest. Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park protects the famous Fern Canyon a 50-foot-deep ravine whose walls are covered entirely with five-species fern growth. The Avenue of the Giants, a 31-mile parkway through Humboldt Redwoods State Park south of the national park, passes through the Rockefeller Forest, the largest contiguous old-growth coast redwood forest on earth. Drive-through trees and tourist attractions thin near the southern end, but the northern parks maintain genuine wilderness character.