Cathedral Trees

There are a number of excellent groves of old growth redwood trees in Redwood National Park and in the three state parks which are part of the park complex. Some of the most impressive redwoods are visible in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park along the trail which runs along the Newton B. Drury Parkway from the Elk Prairie area to the tree known as Big Tree.

This trail is flat and provides easy access to a number of large redwoods, including the circular formations of redwoods known as cathedral trees.

Most of the trees in the old growth forests of the parks are between 250 and 1000 years old. Interestingly, the oldest redwood ever discovered was bout 2200 old, but it was felled long ago. It seems sad that someone cut down a tree which had existed for such a long time.

The redwood forest in the park contains a number of other different kinds of trees--Douglar fir, western hemlock, madrone, and tanoak.

One interesting item alongside the Foothill Trail is the Rotary Club marker. The familiar Rotary Club toothed wheel is carved on a stone pillar, sitting among the ferns and huge redwood trees.

Most of the trail here runs under the canopy of the redwood forest where little light reaches the forest floor. However, on occasion the trail runs through an open area and a patch of sunlight can be found.

Cathedral trees are a group of redwoods which grow in a circle around a host stump or tree, from which they sprouted. Redwood stumps have "suckers" which emerge from all sides, creating a circle of trees sometimes known as a "fairy ring" or "sprouting ring." There are a number of these plant groupings along the trail here.

The density of giant trees which arise from a single parent redwood in these areas can be very impressive.

Fallen redwood logs serve as "nursery" for other redwoods as well as other species of trees and many other plants.

In some places the space between redwood trunks is just broad enough to accommodate the trail.

The redwood national and state parks are a resource of incalculable value. One half of all remaining old growth redwoods in existence are preserved in Redwood National Park or the state redwood parks.

At the north end of this trail one can find the appropriately named "Big Tree."

Also in this area is the Circle Trail which includes some amazing fallen and broken redwood trees.