I've heard that there are beautiful redwoods near San Francisco. Does anyone know what park to go to. I've heard Mendocino, Muir Woods and Big Basin. Would a trip to Mendocino be worth it or would Muir Woods or Big Basin be enough. Thanks

Big Basin is closer to Santa Cruz area. Muir Woods is just north of SF and Mendocino is further north than that. Muir Woods makes a very nice day trip from SF.

Thanks, which of the three would you recommend seeing? I have the time to travel north if Mendocino is much better than the other two.

Actually I was blown away by Jedediah Smith but that's way up by Crecent City. I think it was the old growth woods that made it really spectacular.

I understand that Big Basin has old growth and ancient Coast Redwoods but I haven't been there yet.

I have visited Muir Woods and thought it was really beautiful. It contains one of the bay areas last stand of old growth redwoods. Muir Woods is a great escape for those hot valley summer days.

Here's some info about Muir Woods that may affect your visit there:

"Muir Woods National Monument is one of the busiest National Parks in the country. Over 1 million people go through our entrance gate each year. Parking near the monument is limited. On summer weekends, once our parking lots are full, you may expect to park up to a mile down the road. We suggest coming before 10:00am or after 4:00pm or on weekdays to avoid the biggest rush."

Given a choice, I would definitely choose Big Basin - not as crowded as Muir Woods and it has nicer trees.

I've only been to Big Basin, and it's gorgeous! You don't even need to go hiking if you only want to see big redwoods, they are at the entrance. There is a nice waterfall as well, and a cascade to see if you do hiking. It's a pretty long and somewhat strenuous hike (look at the maps to see which way you would prefer to start considering the differences in altitudes in certain places.

Are the Redwoods in Big Basin, Coast Redwoods or Giant Sequois? We were recently in this area. We saw the Redwoods at Muir Woods and I believe they are Coast Redwoods. We went to Mariposa Grove in Yosemite and there we saw Giant Sequois, some 31+ feet across and just beautiful! I read, in Muir Woods, that the Redwoods there are not as tall as the ones in Northern CA.

cd,
Mariposa Grove has Giant (sierra) Redwoods which are different from Coast Redwoods. There are three groves of giant sequoias in Yosemite - the Mariposa, Tuolumne, and Merced Groves. The Mariposa Grove is the largest grove.

Another awesome grove of Giant (sierra) redwoods is Big Trees in Calavaras County.

Oops forgot to say the redwoods in Big Basin are coast redwoods. If you've seen both types you can definitely see the difference between the two.

Thanks Susie
Yes, we could definitely tell the difference. The Giant Sequois have wider trunks and the Coast Redwoods are taller, both awesome but that's why I wanted to know which ones were in Big Basin as we did not get there. Thank you.