Redwood Regional Park

Redwood Regional Park is a park of the East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD) in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is located in the hills east of Oakland. The park contains the largest remaining natural stand of coast redwood found in the East Bay. Redwood forests are more commonly found closer to the coast where the air is cool and humid year-round. In the Bay Area, such forests are found in the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Marin Hills. The unique geographical circumstances of the redwood forest in Redwood Regional Park create coastal conditions. Winds funneled through the Golden Gate flow directly across the Bay and are channeled into the linear valley in which the Montclair District of Oakland is situated. This valley is also well-watered all year round and is protected from extremes of temperature and high winds.

Up to the middle of the 19th century, the bulk of the redwood forest lay in the linear valley, with extensions to the surrounding ridges. Early mariners used two particularly tall redwood trees along the ridges to help them navigate into San Francisco Bay. However, logging in the latter half of the 1800s wiped out the original trees, leaving only their stumps. The redwoods contained in today's regional park are the second-growth trees which sprouted from many of these stumps, which are registered as a California Historical Landmark (#962).

External links

* [http://www.ebparks.org/parks/redwood Redwood Regional Park official web page]
* [http://www.ebparks.org/files/EBRPD_files/brochure/redwood_map_full.pdf Redwood Regional full trail map]