At one time redwood trees thrived throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere, but today the majority of the redwoods are found in western United States along the coastal region from central California up through southern Oregon. While early settlers used redwood sparingly, that all changed with the discovery of gold in California. Towns were built using mostly redwood. Some of the first shipments of redwood lumber from the Humboldt region went to build housing in San Francisco.
   Even though today's redwood lumber region covers an area of about 1,000,000 acres, nearly one-fourth of a yearly lumber supply is cut in the coastal area of California. Alarmed by the extensive lumbering of redwood trees during the later part of the 19th century, the Save the Redwoods League was established in 1918. Over the last century, the League has protected more than 200,000 acres of redwood forests and helped create 66 redwood parks and reserves. Some of the first state parks were established in the 1920s. Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park were created to protect some of the finest remaining examples of coastal redwoods. Congress added more land adjacent to these three California state parks in 1968 with the creation of Redwood National Park. Today the California Department of Parks and Recreation and the National Park Service jointly manage the four-park area. The Humboldt Redwood Parks total 53,000 acres, with nearly one third made up of old-growth redwood forest, which is one the largest forests of ancient redwoods left on Earth.
   One of the best ways to experience the redwood groves is by car. The 32-mile-long Avenue of the Giants runs from Rio Dell to Phillipsville. This scenic Avenue parallels the Eel River and U.S. Route 101. The route passes through some of the tallest trees on America's western coast. Visitors may find that the Humboldt Redwoods State Park is by far the best display of large redwoods. In Founders Grove, the Founders Tree was once proclaimed the tallest redwood on Earth. Since 1957, the tree has been re-measured several times and its height has been reduced from 364 to 346 feet. Still, the huge redwood is considered to be the 5th tallest of all the redwoods. Naturally well-shaded and relatively flat, the Founders Grove Trail is just over a mile. Located nearby an off-ramp from U.S. 101, the grove is almost too convenient and receives many visitors.

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