Muir Woods National Monument: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Muir Woods National Monument, National Park Service

Biscombe, Jason

Muir Woods National Monument was established by President Theodore Roosevelt on January 8, 1908 through Proclamation 793, the tenth National Monument designated under the Antiquities Act of 1906. The monument, established through a gift of private land by William Kent and Elizabeth Thacher Kent, preserves the heart of a rare surviving old-growth redwood forest in Marin County, California, a short distance north from the City of San Francisco. In 1917, administration of Muir Woods was transferred to the newly created National Park Service. Muir Woods National Monument is today administered as part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The 427-acre nominated property includes the original monument parcel and lands added in 1921 and 1935. This historic landscape embraces the heart of the old-growth redwood forest and the cultural core of the monument that extends along the canyon floor. This core, following the main trail and Redwood Creek, includes the largest trees, groves, memorials, and visitor facilities. The nominated property includes all federally-owned parcels given National Monument designation through the end of the period of significance in 1947, including the original monument tract, and the Hamilton, Kent, Railway, and Entrance Tracts. Muir Woods National Monument is situated within Redwood Canyon, a deep, forested valley at the southern foot of Mount Tamalpais approximately eight miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge and two miles east of the Pacific Ocean. Muir Woods National Monument was historically a relatively isolated redwood forest with access by Muir Woods Road located just off its southern boundary and a network of hiking trails leading in from all sides. Muir Woods Road, narrow two-lane asphalt-paved road, remains little changed from its historic appearance and still serves as the only vehicular entrance to the monument, connecting with Shore Highway (US Route 1) on the west and the Panoramic Highway and City of Mill Valley on the east. The network of hiking trails, leading toward the Pacific Ocean, Mill Valley, and the summits of Mount Tamalpais, also remains. This network includes the Tamalpais Conservation Club (TCC), Stapelveldt, Ocean View, Bootjack, Dipsea, and Fern Canyon Trails, which were built prior to 1947. During the historic period, the monument was also accessible via the Mt. Tamalpais and Muir Woods Railway, which had the terminus of its Muir Woods Branch a short distance north of the monument. The railway discontinued service to Muir Woods in 1929 during the historic period. The nominated property overall retains integrity to its period of significance that begins in 1907 and ends in 1947. Primary resources include the redwood forest (a natural resource that has gained cultural significance) with its old-growth character and major spaces including Bohemian and Cathedral Groves; memorials associated with important individuals in the American conservation movement; a trail system reflecting the use and organization of the site dating back to the earliest years of the monument; and buildings, structures, and small-scale features dating prior to World War II that reflect a rustic aesthetic and conservation practices characteristic of NPS development during the first half of the 20th century. Since the end of the period of significance, changes that have affected the historic integrity of the property include the removal of comfort stations dating from the 1920-30s; alterations to the 1940 Administration-Concession Building; removal of log footbridges, signs, and benches built by the Civilian Conservation Corps; deterioration of stone revetments along Redwood Creek; and realignment and surface changes to sections of trails. These changes have affected some details of the property, but not its overall character. Within the nominated property are 35 contributing resources and 14 non-contributing resources. Overall, the landscape is in good condition.

Muir Woods National Monument: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Muir Woods National Monument, National Park Service

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