Cathedral Grove - Silence for a President

Photo: Harry Cutts, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

A stop on Muir Woods, a free self-guided tour.

Signs ask you to enter this grove quietly, and it's worth doing. Lower your voice, put the phone on silent and listen: the creek, a bird, maybe a breeze far overhead.

In the spring of 1945, delegates from around the world gathered in San Francisco to write the charter of the new United Nations. President Franklin Roosevelt, who had championed the idea, died on April 12, just before the conference opened. On May 19, delegates came here to Cathedral Grove to honor him, and a plaque marks the ceremony.

Notice how many trees here stand in rough circles. When an old redwood dies, young trunks sprout from its roots around it, and centuries later you get a ring of giants around an empty center. People call these family circles or fairy rings, and they help give the grove its cathedral feeling. Find the plaque, then take a full minute of silence before you move on.

Getting here: Stay on the Main Trail past Bridge 2 and Bridge 3; Cathedral Grove's quiet-zone signs mark the entrance to the grove.

Did you know?: The United Nations conference opened in San Francisco on April 25, 1945, less than two weeks after Roosevelt's death.

Photo op: Step into the middle of a family circle and shoot upward to catch the ring of trunks closing in like the walls of a cathedral; no flash needed or wanted.

Nearby: None in the grove; the nearest restrooms are back at the entrance.

More on Wikipedia: United Nations Conference on International Organization · Franklin D. Roosevelt

Cathedral Grove - Silence for a President

Stops on this tour