Skip to main content
Life

Big Basin Is Back! Find All the Best Places To See Redwoods Near San Francisco

Written by Shelley D. FargoPublished Apr. 23, 2023 • 9:00am
Muir Woods is the most famous place to see redwoods near SF, but there are many other impressive groves. | Gabrielle Lurie/SF Chronicle via Getty Images

How better to celebrate Earth Day than with the reopening of redwood groves at one of California’s most beloved state parks? 

Big Basin Redwoods State Park partially reopened to the public last month following extensive damage from the CZU Lightning Complex Fire in August 2020 and flooding from recent rains.

“I cried my first day back after the fire,” said Debbie Martwich, senior visitor service aid at the park that sits about an hour’s drive from San Jose in the Santa Cruz mountains.  “Miraculously, 97% of the redwoods survived! The regrowth is amazing. There is green everywhere.”

The Big Basin redwood forest shows signs of regrowth after the 2020 fire. | Courtesy Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks and Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Lucky for visitors, the two best places to see Big Basin’s big trees are in areas that have been reopened: the Redwood Trail and the North Escape Road. Rangers are trying to keep crowds in check by requiring online parking reservations to enter the park.

Big Basin is near the top of the list of locals’ favorite places to walk, hike, picnic or just sit among the world’s tallest trees in their natural environment: California’s coast redwoods are native only within 50 miles of the Pacific Ocean.

While tourists flock to Muir Woods, there are many equally impressive and less crowded spots around the Bay Area to see these trees, including Samuel P. Taylor State Park in Marin, Armstrong Redwoods in Sonoma County and Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park, just a short drive from Downtown Oakland.

Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park offers trails through the trees in the Oakland Hills. | Sarah Holtz/The Standard

And though redwoods have been planted in parks across the state—with several lovely groves in the city of San Francisco itself—consider a day trip to see and smell these stunning trees standing in the coastal fog where they belong.

Best Places To See Redwoods in the San Francisco Bay Area

Questions, comments or concerns about this article may be sent to info@sfstandard.com


San Francisco Japantown's Osaka Way with the Pease Plaza in the background.

Where To Shop in San Francisco’s Japantown for the Holiday Season


Items made by local San Franciscan makers are displayed at Fleetwood clothing store

This Might Be the Coolest Shop in San Francisco’s Coolest Neighborhood


Colorful lanterns hang in a narrow San Francisco alleyway that has a red terrace and a red sign.

San Francisco Chinatown Holiday Season Shopping Guide: 2023 Edition


The tasting room at Ram's Gate winery is decked out for the holidays.

Make a Happy Holiday Trip Up to Sonoma County


A wall is crowded with bolts of fabric that are organized by color, ranging from black and gray to purple, red and yellow.

7 Great Places To Shop for Christmas Gifts in Downtown San Francisco