Bohemian Grove - Where a Club Once Camped
A stop on Muir Woods, a free self-guided tour.
This stretch of giants along Redwood Creek is called Bohemian Grove, and the name comes from an unusual camping trip.
In 1892, before this was a park, San Francisco's Bohemian Club, a men's club of writers, artists and businessmen, camped in this canyon for two weeks. During their stay they built a huge Buddha statue, about 43 feet tall, in the grove. The club later bought its own forest in Sonoma County, which is now the better-known Bohemian Grove, but the name stuck here.
Some of the tallest trees in Muir Woods grow along this flat, boardwalked stretch, where they have deep soil and steady water from the creek. Take a moment to pick out the tallest trunk you can see and follow it upward. Even the tops you can glimpse aren't the very tops; the highest branches are often hidden behind lower ones.
Getting here: Follow the Hillside Trail down to Bridge 2, then head back toward the entrance on the boardwalked Bohemian Grove Trail.
Did you know?: The Bohemian Club's Buddha statue was about 43 feet tall, and nothing of it remains in the grove today.
Photo op: Stand at the edge of the boardwalk and shoot a vertical panorama from the roots to the canopy to capture a full trunk in one frame.
Nearby: Restrooms, water and the cafe are a few minutes ahead at the entrance.
More on Wikipedia: Bohemian Club · Bohemian Grove
Stops on this tour
- Muir Woods Entrance - A Forest Saved by a Gift
- Founders Grove - How a Redwood Lives
- Pinchot Tree - A Friendship Tested
- Cathedral Grove - Silence for a President
- Fern Creek - Where Two Streams Meet
- Hillside Trail - Looking Into the Canopy
- Bohemian Grove - Where a Club Once Camped
- Redwood Creek - Home Stream of the Salmon