High up in the canopy of ancient redwood forest, one of the world’s rarest seabirds, the marbled murrelet, shares its ethereal home with an entire ecosystem of plants and wildlife thriving hundreds of feet above ground. This week’s National Park Getaway travels to California’s northwest coast to soak in this splendor of towering trees and majestic overlooks.

Redwood National and State Parks preserve the largest remaining contiguous section of ancient coast redwood forest, including some of the world’s tallest and oldest trees. The park’s primeval forests, prairies, rivers, coastline, and woodlands are cooperatively managed by the National Park Service and the California Department of Parks and Recreation.

The human footprint in this park dates back more than 4,500 years. The Tolowa, Yurok, Chilula and Hupa peoples continue to rely on the park for spiritual, cultural, physical and economic sustenance. The park’s landscape holds remnants of its past logging, ranching, fishing and military history.

At Redwood, you can hike among the giants, relax in fields of wildflowers and explore the beaches of the Pacific coast. You’ll get a clear view by reading this week’s National Park Getaway article at www.nps.gov/getaways.

Logo courtesy of the National Park Service