Redwood national park
Established in 1968, on the 131,983 acres of Redwood National Park this park is home to the tallest trees in the world, Redwood trees. They can grow over 300 ft tall, be over 2,000 years old, and weigh as much as 500 tons. It includes 3 state parks and not only consists of forest but also prairies, coastlines, rivers, and oak woodlands.
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About 1.25 million people visit the park each year. You can camp, hike, bike, horseback ride, kayak, and have a scenic drive. You can drive through a tree, but it isn't a Redwood tree, it's a Giant Sequoia.
The Spanish were the first Europeans to see the redwood trees and Jedediah Smith was the first European to fully explore the area.
The California gold rush of 1848-1858 was the main reason that the park was established. Two hundred years ago there were about 2 million acres of Redwood trees in California. When people heard about the gold rush, they moved to California from all over the world in great masses. There were not many towns built yet so they had to establish towns and build houses. Redwood trees are very sturdy and valuable, so people started logging them to build everything the towns needed. Not until the after the gold rush did people realize that the redwood population was going down. It took another 100 years for the National Park to be founded. No one is allowed to cut down the trees inside the park but loggers still work outside the park . |