Up close to the tallest living things on our planet.
If you want to feel small, stand next to a redwood trunk. 
1
Thick redwood in Prairie Creek
Coast redwoods don't get as wide as their cousins the giant sequoia, but 26-foot diameters can hardly be considered second rate.Photo: M. D. Vaden of Oregon
2
Redwood at Muir Woods
Where redwoods leave the sequoias behind is height. These are the tallest trees on the planet, with the highest so far measured reaching 379.1 feet. That's over 70 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty, taking into account pedestal and foundation.Photo: lunaport
3
Sun setting behind a redwood, Humboldt
And, stats aside, they're just awesome to look at.Photo: mason bryantIntermission
4
Cathedral redwoods in Prairie Creek
"Cathedral trees" sprout from a shared base, like these in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.Photo: rachel_thecat
5
Redwood canopy, Russian River
The canopy of a redwood grove, out of sight of both earth and sky, has been described as an "unexplored ecosystem."Photo: *~Dawn~*
6
Screaming Titans redwood tree
The locations of the most serious trees and groves are kept secret, to protect both the redwoods and inexperienced hikers who might otherwise seek them out. This is one such tree, Screaming Titans, in the Grove of Titans, Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park.Photo: H Dragon
7
Stitched photo of a tall redwood tree
A stitch job from the Grove of Titans.Photo: H Dragon
8
Redwood, Santa Cruz Mountains
Dwarfed by nature.Photo: Shayan (USA)
9
Redwood in Jebediah Smith
A stout trunk from Jedediah Smith.Photo: joannapoeIntermission
10
Chandelier, the drive-thru tree
We treat our redwoods better today than they did in the 1930s. Still, if you ever wanted to drive through a tree, here ya go.Photos: lostintheredwoods (left), nagobe (right)
11
Redwood canopy in Muir Woods
A shot aptly titled, "give up, we have you surrounded."Photo: adrian207
12
Photo of logged redwood from 1900
There's no doubt that trees bigger than today's record holders were logged over the last century+. It's not clear whether this was a coast redwood or giant sequoia, only that it was ginormous (note the team of horses on top).Photo: David C. Foster
Hal Amen
Hal Amen is managing editor at Matador. His personal travel blog is WayWorded.
just WOW…
Excellent photos! I live 2.5 hours from these beautiful trees and have been going since a child. LOVE THEM. Great hiking too.
The redwoods were just featured in National Geographic, too – I definitely want to see them for myself someday!
My time with old growth trees is some of my best, most magical memories! I have a special connection to Redwoods, especially the Western Red Cedar.
Can you imagine the forest that stretched form Northern California to Alaska? What a sight that must have been.
Hard to imagine that much biomass just growing into existence. Gorgeous pix!
Beautiful photos!
(But can’t standing that close/on a tree HURT it? I think I read that somewhere, and I’m pretty sure that’s why a lot of them are roped off.)
Gorgeous! I love all the ground shots looking up.
Wow beautiful shots – the Redwoods are now on my ever expanding must see list!
Some nice photos here…just wanted to mention it’s “Jedidiah,” not “Jebidiah” (#6 & #9). It’s “The Simpsons’” fault…
Sweet, thanks kyme. Perhaps I’m dyslexic and don’t realize it…or, as you say, it’s probably The Simpsons.
Wow, incredible. That last picture especially.
Just saw the forest in Rotorua, NZ. Tall as.
They never cease to be amazing. Sometimes when you live where you’re surrounded by the coastal redwoods you take them for granted. Its been awhile since I really took in what I’m surrounded by. Its time for a hike, thanks for the reminder!
They are gorgeous aren’t they ? I love way it smells in the Redwoods too!
Actually, it’s “Jedediah,” rather than “Jedidiah.”
Jedediah Strong Smith was a very early “mountain man” and fur trapper. A very interesting man, one who blazed many trails into California. He is considered the first non-Native-American to travel overland from the Mississippi and across the Sierra Nevada into California. He was a young scrap of 22 when he made this first foray. When he was 27 he led a party from southern Utah, across Nevada, Arizona, the Mojave Desert and the Cajon Pass to Mission San Gabriel in southern California.
In 1831, Jedediah Smith was at the Cimarron River near Santa Fe, New Mexico looking for a water source to serve his latest trading party, and was ambushed by Indians. When he failed to return from the scouting trip, his group went on to Santa Fe without him, hoping that he might have gone on ahead. Eventually his companions on the trip, finding some of his personal possessions for sale by a Santa Fe merchant, learned that he had been killed by a group of Comanches along the Cimarron River.
That’s one troublesome name, eh?! Thanks for sharing the historical background.
Great selection of redwood photos. I don’t even think NatGeo has a selection this diverse. Well done.
Hey, thanks Sparrow. That’s quite a compliment.
[...] is across the street from the new Nantahala Brewing. 4. Skunk Train – Built to haul downed redwoods, this re-purposed line runs from Fort Bragg on the California coast through Jackson State Forest to [...]
Awesome.. Fantabulous!
Elie Saab