An extraordinary journey awaits you at Humboldt County’s Redwood Skywalk. Nestled amidst Humboldt’s many breathtaking natural wonders, lies a human-made marvel that promises a remarkable journey into one of Nature’s most awe-inspiring creations: the Californian coast redwood forest. The Redwood Sky Walk at Sequoia Park Zoo presents an almost quarter-mile tour of the forest, soaring up to 100 feet above the forest floor, accessible via convenient ramps. It provides an experience of the redwood forest like no other.
It has long been my passion to photograph light at night, and the redwood forest is the forest type that holds my heart. When my love of night photography coincided with a tour through the middle terrace of the redwoods at night, I was in heaven.
Photography is for sharing and it gives me pleasure to share this treasured experience. You must try the Redwood Sky Walk for yourself, for whether by night or by day, it is spectacular.
Most of the Sky Walk is solid underfoot and accessible to wheeled devices, but there are a few swinging bridges. Stepping onto them inevitably brings to my mind the bridge Kathleen Turner braved high above the gorge in Romancing the Stone but that is only my mind messing with me.
The swinging portions wobble and sway, yes, and they feel like walking on a waterbed — albeit 100 feet above the forest floor — but they also feel strong. I am not fond of heights, but I felt fine on the Sky Walk. And if you go at night, you can’t see the forest floor in many places, allowing the illusion that one isn’t really that far above the ground.
The Redwood Sky Walk is normally open during the day when the Zoo is open. But between now and Jan. 5, the Sequoia Park Zoo will also be showing off its towering lighted redwood Christmas tree. At the time of the tree’s lighting, the Zoo team believed it to be the tallest lighted Christmas tree in the land at 174 feet, 9 inches, surpassing even Ferndale’s mighty Sitka spruce tree and previous tallest Christmas tree record-holder.
However, even at that, apparently it is still not the tallest lighted Christmas tree in the country because, according to the Zoo’s Special Projects Coordinator Kate Baldwin, a team in Mendocino County has lighted an even taller one. So it goes. But there is hope that the zoo can someday regain the record, as according to Zoo Director Jim Campbell-Spickler, the tree will grow 1-3 feet each year. Of course, so may the others.
Viewing of the lighted Christmas Tree is from 5-8 p.m. on select nights. Tickets are cheap at $5 and include the Redwood Sky Walk. Visit redwoodzoo.org for more information.
Should you miss the Zoo Lights evening holiday viewing, you can visit the Redwood Sky Walk during regular daytime zoo hours, included in the regular admission price.
Cool facts: Redwood trees (Sequoia sempervirens) grow to be the tallest trees in the world. The Sequoia Park Zoo, founded in 1907, is the oldest accredited Zoo in California. In 2023, the Redwood Sky Walk was voted Best Aerial Adventure Park in the nation by USA Today readers and received two prestigious awards from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The mixed-growth redwood forest in Sequoia Park is believed to be the tallest urban forest on the planet and has an average canopy height of 250 feet. The Redwood Skywalk itself is nearly ¼ mile long and reaches a height of 100 feet above the forest floor. During the 7.0 earthquake of Dec. 5, Campbell-Spickler and another professional climber were high in the Christmas tree hanging the decorations. “It was intense,” he says of the experience. I’m sure it was!
David Wilson (he/him) teaches Art 35 Digital Photography at College of the Redwoods. To keep abreast of his photography or purchase a print, visit mindscapefx.com or follow him on Instagram at @david_wilson_mfx and on Twitter @davidwilson_mfx .
This article appears in Top 10 Stories of 2024.