The Tall Tree

In 1963, rumors of “great timber” from area loggers led National Geographic Society naturalist Paul Zahl to a remote creek valley, where on one trip he stopped on a cut-over ridge across from a grove, scanned the treetops, and spotted a redwood rising above the others like a giant candle. He had already measured its companions at about 320 feet tall, but this tree stood somewhat inland, which had caused him to miss it earlier. The discovery of The Tall Tree and other giant coast redwoods along Redwood Creek renewed a century-old effort to establish a national redwood park, and concern over the possible harvest of these record-breaking trees helped lead to the establishment of Redwood National Park in 1968.

California · United States