See California’s incredible redwoods from this new sky walk

Many travelers head to California’s ancient redwood forests to see the giant trees tower over them. But now there’s a chance to explore a bit closer to their lofty canopies on a new ‘sky walk’.

The Redwood SkyWalk at Sequoia Park Zoo will host its grand opening the weekend of June 4 to 6, allowing visitors to explore the forest from 100-feet above the ground.

Located in Eureka, California, the sky walk is a series of connected elevated bridges that take visitors to the raised platforms, where they can see this old-growth redwood grove from a new perspective. At nearly one-quarter mile long, the zoo says it will be the longest sky walk in the Western US. According to the zoo, as there are no stairs the entire place is ADA-accessible, except for an optional adventure portion.

Raised canopy paths snake through an old-growth redwood forest. — The pathwoods are 100 feet above the forest floor © Eddy Alexander on behalf of the City of Eureka

The Redwood SkyWalk is within Sequoia Park, a 67-acre grove in the city of Eureka. Eureka is located within Humboldt County, which is also home to Redwood National Park, where more than 45 percent of California’s remaining protected old-growth redwoods forests grow.

According to the zoo, the platforms are suspended from the trees, and therefore do not impact the forest floor below. They are designed to “ensure negligible impact" on the trees and allow them to continue to grow. While the platforms bring visitors much closer to the trees, guests are advised not to touch their delicate bark.

The grand opening will adhere to current COVID-19 guidelines, but California is poised to remove many of its restrictions on capacity and social distancing by June 15.