Coast Redwood National Park

Coast redwoods are known to live more than 600 years

Looking up the trunk of this tree, I could tell just how massively tall it was. I was in Redwood National Park in California just starting the Tall Tree Trail. All around me were tree trunks that were wider than cars and bigger than any other trees that I had seen in my life. The species of tree seen here is a coast redwood. They are taller than any other species of tree on Earth. There are about 500 of the trees with diameters greater than 20 feet. Those are the truly old and tall specimens. At their maximum, coast redwoods reach heights of more than 360 feet. 200 to 330 feet tall is considered normal.

Koa Tree

How do these trees grow to be so tall? One helpful aspect is that they grow throughout their long lives. They are known to live more than 600 years, with the oldest known coast redwood is more than 2,200 years old. This long-lasting lifespan accounts for the species name, sempervirens. “Sempervirens” is Latin for “ever green” or “everlasting”. At the turn of the century, they were thought to live forever, and they were called the “everlasting redwood”. The binomial name for coast redwoods is Sequoia sempervirens. Other common names include coastal redwood and California redwood.

Until the 1850s, the coast redwood grew in an estimated area of more than two million acres. It was at this time that commercial logging and clearing began to remove many of these magnificent trees. Nowadays, the coast redwood survives in a small area of land that is 470 miles in length and 5 to 47 miles in width. They are found exclusively along the Pacific coast of North America with a majority of the population being found in California, and a small segment residing in Oregon. They currently grow at elevations from sea level to three thousand feet. They grow to their largest heights in areas with an abundance of water. These areas typically experience consistent fog or incoming moisture from the ocean.

Frozen Pine

Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP) are home to the largest and tallest coast redwoods. There are four parks that make up RNSP: Redwood National Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, and. Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. There are 139,000 acres within RNSP, and 45% of all old-growth coast redwood forests are within their borders.

Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP) are home to the largest and tallest coast redwoods

Did you know?

The coast redwood is endangered.
The Steller’s sea lion can be found along the coastal area of Redwood National and State Parks.
Fog is important to the survival and growth of the coast redwood. Where there is more fog, there are taller trees.
The bark of coast redwoods is extremely fire resistant. They also self-prune their lower limbs which helps to prevent fires from spreading into the canopy.