Shade is common on the trails in Monte Rio Redwoods Regional Park in Sonoma County. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

Approximately 1,287 acres of coastal redwood forest that had been in timber production for more than 150 years is now public lands.

This acquisition in Sonoma County, called the Monte Rio Redwood Expansion, links Sonoma Coast State Park Willow Creek Expansion to the west with Monte Rio Redwoods Regional Park to the east.

The property connects a conserved area of more than 22,000 contiguous acres (more than 34 square miles) of forest, wildlife corridors and watershed, from the Bohemian Highway to the Sonoma Coast and north to Jenner Headlands.

The expansion deal came to fruition in June with a number of entities involved. The property is now part of Sonoma County Regional Parks, and will be incorporated into the Monte Rio Redwoods Regional Park and Open Space Preserve.

The land was purchased from Mendocino Redwood Company for $24 million.

Earlier this month I got a small taste (2.5 miles) of the already established Monte Rio Redwoods Regional Park.

It’s a park I would gladly visit again, and probably again and again. In summer this is a place to stay relatively cool being so close to the ocean and under the shade of the redwoods.

With the abundance of ferns, you know this area gets plenty of water.

I would think coming back in spring with creeks flowing would be a delight to witness.

Redwoods can grow to more than 30 stories tall. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

No matter when one visits there’s something majestic about redwoods. Maybe because they don’t grow just anywhere. That is certainly one thing that makes them special.

They are also the tallest trees on Earth—some reaching 380 feet or as high as a 37-story building. Trunks easily grow to more than 20 feet wide.

According to Save the Redwoods League, 77 percent of their range—southern Oregon to Central California—is privately owned. That doesn’t leave a lot of them protected.

The same nonprofit on its website says, “These trees can live for more than 2,000 years. Some coast redwoods living today were alive during the time of the Roman Empire.”

It is good to know there are still people and organizations out there protecting the land, preserving it and opening it to the public.