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San Francisco and the Bay Area News & History

FYI: Here’s Why Muir Woods Closes Before (and Afte...
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UNDERSCORE_SF

February 10, 2024


Suffice it to say you wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of a 200-foot-all tree that’s decided being vertical is just too much work these days.

Muir Woods National Monument is among the most spellbinding, enchanting, picturesque places anywhere in Northern California. And in California. And in the country. And in the world.


The 558-acre national park is home to some of the largest and oldest trees on this planet; the tallest coastal redwood inside Muir Woods stands nearly 260 feet tall; the same tree is estimated to be well over 750 years old. For some perspective, Muir Woods’s tallest tree is nearly 50 feet taller than Coit Tower… and began sewing its roots when humans only numbered 340 million across the entire planet and still hunted animal prey with spears.


To think that we San Francscians can simply cross one of the greatest marvels of human engineering, travel some dozen miles along a serotonin-lined section of the 101, and end up in such a place is a hyperlocal nicety that can’t be forgotten. However, it’s always good to make sure Muir Woods is, in fact, open and accepting reservations.


Why? Because these gargantuan trees rooted in the park have a habit of collapsing — high winds and saturated soils heighten that risk.


FYI: Here’s Why Muir Woods Closes Before (and After) Storms


Greg

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