The Redwood Creek Trail weaves its way through beautiful oak and bay woodlands, and alder, willow, and elderberry lined riparian areas for 1.8 miles along its namesake waterway. Stretching between Muir Beach and Muir Woods, the trail is a well-used thoroughfare for people visiting these popular sites, as well as an important part of the ecological corridor linking the ancient redwood forest and the floodplain by the sea. Redwood Creek is home to endangered coho salmon, threatened steelhead trout, and California red-legged frogs, as well as diverse plant and bird species.
Improving Trails and Protecting Species
The current trail alignment closely parallels the creek for about a mile, and has ten horse fords. The trail’s location in the creek’s floodplain means that it drains poorly and is often muddy and wet during the rainy season. The wet season is also when coho and steelhead are laying their eggs along the adjacent gravelly stream bottom. Regular use of the trail and horse fords sends fine sediment into the creek, smothering the streambed, and depleting the creek’s oxygen.
The proposed trail project, with 1.1 miles of realignment and two new bridges over the stream, will provide passage for horses and pedestrians and protect the creek and its inhabitants.
