Redwoods of Northern California
Redwoods of Northern California
THIS FIELD TRIP IS FULL.
- Registration fee: $45
- Details: Wear comfortable hiking shoes.
- Trip organizer/speaker: Lynn Yarris, NCSWA/Todd Dawson, UC Berkeley
- Sponsored by: UC Berkeley
NOTE: Start and end times given for field trips are the times when the trips depart from and return to the Marriott Marquis San Francisco.
Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Preserve encompasses 805 forested acres of coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), the tallest and oldest trees on Earth. Armstrong Redwoods’ most famous resident is the Colonel Armstrong Tree, estimated to be over 1,400 years old and named after a lumberman who preserved this portion of the forest in the 1870’s. The preserve’s tallest tree is the Parson Jones Tree, which measures more than 310 feet in height. The Discovery/Pioneer trail is an easy and flat 1.3 mile (2 km) loop that takes you past these and other old growth trees. UC Berkeley plant ecologist Todd Dawson will accompany us on this walk. Professor Dawson will discuss the role of redwoods in California coastal ecosystems, what his research reveals about how these trees get the prodigious amounts of water and nutrients they require to grow so large, and how climate change is affecting these magnificent old-growth forests. Attendees will have an extra hour to explore the park on their own before a box lunch with Dawson. Buses leave for San Francisco at 1 pm.
Above: Armstrong Redwoods forest.