The Redwood Forests are a complex of one national park and three state parks (RNSP), cooperatively managed, and located in along the coast of northern California.

Comprising Redwood National Park (established 1968) and California′s State Parks: Del Norte Coast, Jedediah Smith, and Prairie Creek (dating from the 1920s), the combined RNSP contain 139,000 acres, and feature old-growth temperate rainforests.

The four parks, RNSP together, protect 45 percent of all remaining coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) old-growth forests, totaling at least 38,982 acres. These trees are the tallest, among the oldest, and one of the most massive tree species on Earth. In addition to the redwood forests, the parks preserve other indigenous flora, fauna, grassland prairie, cultural resources, portions of rivers and other streams, and 37 miles of pristine coastline.

The Redwood Forest is located within Del Norte and Humboldt Counties along the Pacific coast of Northern California and extreme south Oregon. Actually, this species only grows within twenty five miles of the coast because they require the mist laden winds from the ocean to survive.

In the southern front range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, less than 15 miles to the northwest of Pikes Peak lies a valley that has become famous for the 34 million year old fossils that it possesses. This valley is now called the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument and within the park can be found many petrified redwood stumps.

The Florissant Formation is a sedimentary geologic formation outcropping near and around Florissant, Colorado. The formation is noted for the abundant and exceptionally preserved insect and plant fossils that are found in the mudstones and shales. Based on argon radiometric dating, the formation is from the Eocene Epoch, approximately 34 million years old in age which has been interpreted as a lake environment. The fossils have been preserved because of the interaction of the volcanic ash from the nearby Thirtynine Mile volcanic field with diatoms in the lake, causing a diatom bloom. As the diatoms fell to the bottom of the lake, any plants or animals that had recently died were preserved by the diatom falls. Fine layers of clays and muds interspersed with layers of ash form "paper shales" holding beautifully-preserved fossils.

The Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument is a national monument established to preserve and study the geology and history of the area.

The forest is located in northern California along the coast highway US 101 east and south of Crescent City, California.

1111 Second Street, Crescent City, California, 95531

Ancient Forest