Humboldt Redwoods State Park

Infobox_protected_area | name = Humboldt Redwoods State Park
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caption = The "Darkness at Noon" effect is synonymous with Redwood Groves.
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location = California, USA
nearest_city = Rio Dell
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area = convert|53000|acre|km2
established = 1921
governing_body = California Department of Parks and Recreation

Humboldt Redwoods State Park is located 30 miles (50 km) south of Eureka, California in southern Humboldt County, within northern California. Established by the Save-the-Redwoods League in 1921 with the dedication of the Raynal Bolling Memorial Grove, it has grown to become the third largest park in the California State Park System, containing nearly convert|53000|acre|km2 through acquisitions and gifts to the state. Among its assets is the largest, contiguous remaining old-growth redwood forest in the world. At convert|17000|acre|km2 this forest, comprised of the entire Bull Creek Watershed and the Rockefeller Forest, [http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=425 Humboldt Redwoods State Park] is a pristine, diverse ecosystem unequaled by any other in any of the other Redwood parks.Nearby U.S. Route 101, which generally follows the Eel River in this part of the North Coast, offers easy access to the park and nearby towns with connections to the scenic highway, Avenue of the Giants, also mostly located within or near park boundaries.

Three park campgrounds, complete with potable water, bathrooms, and showers, contain more than 250 campsites.

Redwoods

The park is famed for its coast redwoods ("Sequoia sempervirens"), many of which grow to over 90 m in height. The forests on alluvial flats are almost pure redwood forest, but the forests on the slopes contain also Coast Douglas-fir.

Over 100 of the 137 known trees over 106.7 meters (350 feet) tall (all coast redwoods) occur in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. It is home to the 4th tallest measured living redwood, the Stratosphere Giant, which was measured at 112.94 meters in 2004. Stratosphere Giant was the tallest known living redwood until the discovery of three taller trees in Redwood National Park; the tallest, Hyperion, measuring 115.55 m in September 2006. [http://www.humboldt.edu/~sillett/redwoods.html Prof Stephen Sillett's webpage] ]

Before the discovery of Hyperion, the tallest redwood ever measured was the "Dyerville Giant", also in Humboldt State Park. The tree, the tallest tree ever measured, was 113.4 meters high when it fell in March 1991. It was estimated to be 1600 years old.

Most of the original old growth redwoods surrounding the park have been clearcut over the past several decades. Fact|date=June 2007

References

External links

* [http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=425 Humboldt Redwoods SP] - official site (California Department of Parks & Recreation)
* [http://www.humboldtredwoods.org/ Humboldt Redwoods Interpretive Association] - extensive information on the park's cultural resources, history, and preservation of assets