Muir Woods comprises nearly three hundred acres, the principal trees
being laurel, fir, oak, redwood, and madrone, of which the giant
redwood (Sequoia) predominates. The redwoods in Muir Woods are
thousands of years old, and rise from two to three hundred feet in
air. The bark is from one to two feet in thickness, of a cinnamon
color, and the base of the largest trees from twenty-five to thirty
feet in diameter. A clear and cold mountain brook runs through the
forest, and ferns grow in rich profusion along its margin, some of
them reaching a height of six feet.

One cannot but note the profound quiet of the forest, as if these
mighty trees that had withstood the storms of centuries were afraid
their secrets might be wrested from them.

In some past ages fire has swept through the forest, laying some of
these giants low, but other trees have sprung from their charred
stumps, and rear their straight trunks and green-crowned heads
hundreds of feet above the surrounding foliage. These stately trees
have grown and flourished like Solomon's Temple with no sound of
woodman's axe to mar the quiet solemnity of this primeval forest. One
stands in awe in the presence of these wonderful sequoias, the
greatest of trees, and we converse in low tones, as if standing in the
presence of spirits of bygone ages.

[Illustration: AMONG THE REDWOODS]

Muir Woods was accepted by the United States government as a national
monument in 1908, by special proclamation of President Theodore
Roosevelt, and was named in honor of John Muir, the celebrated
California naturalist.