Forget Muir Woods, Visit These 10 Less-Crowded Destinations For Stunning Views Of California Redwoods

Visiting Muir Woods National Monument is a quintessential California experience. "You will be humbled," writes one visitor on Tripadvisor. "These trees have been here for centuries. Respect their authority. Be still. Listen to the sound of silence." Perhaps they were lucky enough to visit very early or very late in the day, but between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., especially on the weekends, it can be hard to find that silence.

While Muir Woods is a truly magical place to commune with giant trees, you'll also be communing with giant crowds. The limited parking means you'll likely be parking off-site and taking a shuttle bus to get there — that can eat up 30 to 40 minutes each way — and if you forgot to make a parking or shuttle reservation, you'd best make other plans. Fortunately, there are other destinations for a similar wow factor, without the crowds.

The trees at Muir Woods are coast redwoods, but California is also home to a second species of redwood: the giant sequoia, which grows in the Sierra Nevada (per Save the Redwoods League). Coast redwoods are the tallest tree species in the world, while giant sequoias are the largest by volume, but a grove of either is fully capable of evoking a sense of wonder and awe. A list of wonderful sites to experience these imposing elders in blissful, reverent solitude could include dozens of destinations; these are just a few of the very best ones, based on decades of personal experience and extensive scouring of touchstone hiking blogs, review apps, and social media.

Many of the old-growth coast redwoods in timeless Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, located about 20 minutes south of the Oregon border, are thousands of years old (per California State Parks). In the Stout Memorial Grove, a warm ethereal glow of sunlight filters through the stately canopy as if through the stained glass windows of an ancient cathedral. The half-mile loop trail is a place to linger in reverential awe, but there are many more highly rated trails and groves to explore, including the Boy Scout Tree Trail and Grove of Titans.

California's underrated Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park does indeed have a misty prairie where majestic elk roam, but it's also home to a magical, fairy-like forest with what RedwoodHikes.com calls California's No. 1 redwood hike. The Miner's Ridge and James Irvine Loop is an 11.5-mile trail from the Visitors' Center (where there is also a campground) to stunning Fern Canyon, with its vertical walls of vibrant greenery. The long but easy forested trail is padded in pillow-soft redwood duff so fluffy you'll feel like you're floating. Fall is secretly the perfect, crowd-free time to visit.

Humboldt Redwoods State Park is home to Avenue of the Giants, the coast redwood forest version of the Walk of Fame. The 31-mile road paralleling Highway 101, 225 miles north of San Francisco, is dotted with trailheads for numerous short loop hikes. The prettiest may be the Grieg-French-Bell Grove, where the trees rise from a blanket of sorrel. Because the avenue is so spread out, none of the trails are ever really that crowded. There are also swimming holes, campgrounds, and picturesque towns, as well as the Shrine Drive Thru Tree, one of three living redwood trees in Northern California you can drive through.

Before the devastation of the CZU Lightning Complex Fire in 2020, Big Basin State Park would have made this list hands-down. Though some trails have been reopened, there is still a lot of restoration to do. Fortunately, nearby you'll find Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, just about 8 miles from downtown Santa Cruz.

Henry Cowell has stands of old- and second-growth coast redwoods and miles of trails. Take a short stroll on the Redwood Grove Loop Trail, and if you have time, add the 3.4-mile Fall Creek to Lime Kilns Trail through second-growth trees. On a sunny afternoon, the filtered light through the smaller trees sets the electric green understory and moss-covered ruins aglow.

Hidden in the Oakland Hills and covered in second-growth coast redwoods, this East Bay gem is a park you can easily fit into a busy weekend getaway, hitting a loop trail of just about any length to work up an appetite before dinner in the buzzed-about foodie capital of America. Is Dr. Aurelia Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park as destination-worthy as Muir Woods? At least one Redditor thinks so, writing, "I think it is as epic, just not in traffic, crowds, and expense." Visit in fall to see delightful hordes of ladybugs blanket the forest.

Armstrong Redwoods is just 70 miles north of Muir Woods in Sonoma County, but it's far less crowded. When you consider the time-consuming hassle of parking shuttles, it may not take much longer to visit from the Bay Area. Wildly underrated Armstrong is a scenic redwood paradise with charming paths to explore and a stunning amphitheater, which was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. "Redwoods, sublime music, and a bit of exercise? Sign me up," wrote one Facebook user after a concert by an eco-conscious choral ensemble.

Humboldt County's small, wildly enchanting Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park is about a five-hour drive from San Francisco but far from the typical tourist's stops. At 1 square mile, it's a postage stamp compared to many of California's redwood parks, but it boasts a small campground with sites on the Van Duzen River and a unique cinematic attraction: Cheatham Grove. This garden-like stand of tall, straight coast redwoods is where George Lucas filmed scenes for 1983's "Return of the Jedi."

The redwood grove at Montgomery Woods State Nature Reserve is a quiet, serene haven of natural beauty tucked on the Sonoma County Coast between Ukiah and Mendocino. It may be tiny and far off the beaten track, but RedwoodHikes.com calls this hidden gem "a redwood Shangri-La." The 1.7-mile loop trail is well-worth seeking out — it has tidy trails and steep, fern-covered canyon walls that give this forest a vibe like being inside an emerald jewel box.

Hidden in the Sierra Nevada, Calaveras Big Trees State Park is a marvel, with over 1,000 old-growth giant sequoias. You can see them from two loop trails: the easy, paved 1.7-mile North Grove Trail or the moderate 5-mile South Grove Trail (via Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition). The latter is where the magic happens. In the South Grove, you'll find plenty to contemplate, like the fact that the oldest of these giants were seedlings in the first century, around the time that Jesus died. Pause to think about that as you stand in their shadows. 

Most visitors to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are content to stand in a crowd and ogle General Sherman, North America's largest tree, but it doesn't take much effort to find contemplative solitude among the park's many groves of giant sequoia. For example, there's the 4-mile out-and-back hike to Muir Grove. "The trees at trail's end form a near perfect circle, and it's an ideal spot to just lie down and stare at the sky," wrote one blissed-out Redditor. In peak summer, vibrant blue lupine blankets the forest floor.