Quick answer
Muir Woods National Monument protects 554 acres of coast redwood in a Marin County canyon, 240 acres of it old growth. William Kent bought the land in 1905 for $45,000; a water company sued to dam the creek, so Kent gave the land to the federal government and Roosevelt made it a monument on January 9, 1908. Reservations are required every day.
Full transcript
Saved From a Reservoir
In 1905 a Marin County conservationist named William Kent bought this canyon for $45,000, mostly to keep loggers out. Two years later a local water company sued to condemn it — they wanted to dam the creek and flood the whole valley for a reservoir. Kent could not win that in court, so he went around it. He wrote to President Theodore Roosevelt offering the land to the federal government, and in January 1908 Roosevelt declared it a national monument, which killed the reservoir permanently. Roosevelt wanted to call it Kent Woods. Kent refused and insisted on naming it for John Muir, who was still alive and who wrote back calling it the best tree lover's monument that could be found in all the forests of the world.
Why These Trees Are Still Here
Coast redwoods once covered 2 million acres of California. By the early 1900s almost all of it had been cut, because redwood is light, straight, and does not rot — the perfect building material for a city that kept burning down. This canyon survived for an unglamorous reason: it was too steep and too far from the water to get the logs out profitably. The tallest tree here reaches about two hundred and fifty eight feet, and the oldest are somewhere over 800 years. Look up and you will notice these trees have no low branches. Then look down: their roots go only 6 to 12 feet deep. What holds them up is that the roots interlock with their neighbors underground. A redwood cannot stand alone, and they do not try to.
How to Actually Visit
One practical thing matters more than anything else here: **you need a reservation, every day of the year**. Either a parking slot or a shuttle seat, booked in advance. People still drive up without one and get turned away at the gate. Go as early as the reservation system allows. The main trail is a flat, paved loop and it is genuinely beautiful, but it is also where every visitor is. Walk to the third or fourth bridge and then keep going — most people turn back there, and the canyon gets quiet fast. And listen. The reason this place feels different is not visual. Redwood bark and needles absorb sound, so the forest is measurably quieter than the world outside it. Stop walking for 30 seconds and you will hear it.