Muir Woods National Monument - Definition and Overview

Trees in Muir Woods

Muir Woods National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located in Northern California, on the west coast of the United States. The woodland park is 12 miles (19 km) north of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, near the Pacific coast. The park has 560 acres (2 km²) of forested area populated by Coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), as well as other tree species.

The monument has a number of paved walking trails where visitors can get a close look at the magnificent giants. Many of the redwoods are over 300 feet (100 m) tall, 18 to 20 feet (5 to 6 m) in diameter, and up to 2000 years old. Other unpaved walking trails lead up the hills out of the valley where most of the redwoods are.

History

The park was started in 1905 when U.S. Congressman William Kent noticed that the valley contained one of the last unlogged stands of old-growth redwood trees near San Francisco. He and his wife purchased the initial land and donated it to the U.S. Government to be protected parkland. President Theodore Roosevelt declared it a national monument in 1908. It was Kent who suggested the park be named after conservationist John Muir. The monument is administered as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

In the spring of 1945, delegates from 50 countries met in San Francisco to draft and sign the United Nations Charter. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, shortly before he was to have opened the United Nations Conference. On May 19, the delegates held a commemorative ceremony in tribute to his memory in Muir Woods' Cathedral Grove, where a dedication plaque was placed in his honor.

External links

• NPS page for Muir Woods (http://www.nps.gov/muwo/)
• Muir Woods National Monument Pictures (http://www.nationalparksgallery.com/parks/Muir-Woods-National-Monument)
• Muir Woods Virtual Tour (http://www.virtuar.com/marin/Muir/)
• Great photographs of Muir Woods (http://www.lodgephoto.com/galleries/US/muirwoods)