Strong Survivors

Redwoods are among the oldest living things. A tree near here was found to be over 2200 years old—the oldest recorded redwood.

This grove is in the Eel River floodplain. The trees here are considered to be the finest specimens due to the optimum growing conditions. The rich soil and abundance of water allows them to grow and dominate the canopy. Pure strands of redwoods, such as this, occupy two percent of the existing redwood forests.

Redwoods live a long time because they have very few enemies. Fire is one of the major threats to all trees. However, only the largest of wildfires can kill mature redwoods because of their thick fire-resistant bark and lack of flammable resin. Many of the older trees along this walk are fire-scarred.

This ancient forest has been through many floods. The silt brought in during a flood is rich in nutrients. Redwood roots can grow vertically up to the new silt level, thus bringing new nutrients and oxygen to the trees. Redwoods have a large amount of tannin, a material that insects find particularly distasteful. While insects cause a considerable amount of damage and death in most other trees, redwoods are rarely bothered.