Park Creek Restored In Five-Year-Long Project
Muir Beach and the mouth of Redwood Creek, located three miles west of Muir Woods National Monument in Marin County, California, have recently gone through a major transformation.
Once the site of an Azores Island Portuguese dairy and ranching operation and later a hastily-built parking lot for visitors to the small cove beach, the floodplain and mouth of the creek had been extensively modified and the natural function of the area had been lost.
A five-year restoration project was undertaken in a partnership between the park and its non-profit partner, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, in which applied sciences in hydrology, geomorphology, wetland ecology, fisheries biology and civil engineering were used to restore the connection of Redwood Creek to its natural channel and floodplain.
Through this process, the wetland habitat for threatened and endangered species – including Coho salmon, steelhead trout and the California red-legged frog – was enhanced and a self-sustaining ecosystem was created.
This latest phase of construction and restoration required the beach to be closed for more than six months. It reopened at the end of this past January.
The parking lot at the mouth of the creek has been newly configured, reopening the floodplain so that the lagoon will now be able to handle heavy volumes of rainwater flow down from Muir Woods National Monument through Redwood Creek and out to the Pacific.
The restoration of the 46-acre area, underway since 2009, was done in a manner that kept the creek system functioning and wildlife protected. Among the improvements and changes were the following:
- Tens of thousands of wetland and upland plants were grown and cared for by the park’s Redwood Creek Nursery volunteers and planted by hundreds of volunteers each year.
- A new 450-foot-wide floodplain was created where the NPS visitor parking lot had once blocked the water flow.
- A new pedestrian bridge was installed over the floodplain, providing both natural function and year-round visitor access to trails and the beach.
- Picnic and restrooms facilities were installed.
- The area was landscaped to provide better views of the ocean.
- Mobi-Mat was installed on the beach to provide better access for people with mobility difficulties.
