Tag: redwoods

National Park Movies

Published on by Kathy CherryLeave a comment

While we wait until we can go and visit a national park, check out a few movies here to enjoy some scenes from a variety of national parks.

  • Star Wars, A New Hope (1977) – Death Valley National in California – filmed some scenes on Tatooine here as well as some other scenes in the movie
  • Dances with Wolves (1990) – Badlands National Park in South Dakota- has a variety of scenes there including a pretty, mixed grass prairie landscape scene
  • The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) – Redwoods National and State Parks in California – filmed some scenes here
  • Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) – Zion National Park in Utah – Robert Redford and Paul Newman filmed some scenes here
  • Star Trek V, The Final Frontier (1989) – Yosemite National Park  in California – Captain Kirk decides to climb El Capitan in this film
  • Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) – Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming – featured the tower as the aliens landing site
  • The Shining (1980) – Glacier National Monument in Montana – filmed the Going-to-the-Sun Road and a few other scenes here and the Overlook Hotel lounge set in the film was modeled after the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park
  • Into the Wild (2007) – Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska – Sean Penn’s movie based on Jon Krakauer’s book set here
  • Rocky IV (1985) – Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming – filmed the Tetons as a stand in for scenes with his training in Siberia
  • Planet of the Apes (1968) – Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Arizona and Utah – filmed the landing site for the astronaut crew there
  • Forrest Gump (1994) – National Mall in Washington DC – Forrest Gump described this scene as the happiest time of his life takes place here and Forrest also journeyed through Glacier National Park in his adventures
  • North by Northwest (1959) – Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota – Alfred Hitchcock movie with Cary Grant filmed some scenes here, but the final scene was filmed on a set which looked just like the memorial
  • E.T. (1982) – Redwoods National and State Parks in California – filmed some scenes here in the forest
  • Free Solo (2018) – Yosemite National Park in California – filmed the nonfiction movie here about a rock climber’s attempt to climb El Capitan

lincoln memorial 2

Enjoy some movies while pretending to be in a national park!

 

Muir Woods National Monument

Published on by Kathy CherryLeave a comment

Happy 111th anniversary to Muir Woods National Monument!

On January 9, 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt created the Muir Woods National Monument named after conservationist John Muir. Muir Woods became the 7th National Monument and was the first one created from land donated by a private individual.

In 1905, Congressman William Kent and his wife, Elizabeth, bought 611 acres for only $45,000. To protect the redwoods here, the Kents donated 295 acres of the land to the federal government. President Roosevelt originally suggested naming it after the Kents, but they wanted it named after Muir.

Muir Woods lies in the middle of the redwood’s latitudinal range that spans from the California/Oregon border to Big Sur, just south of Monterey. And it is quite easy to get to from San Francisco!

In 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge was completed and visitors tripled in numbers to Muir Woods that year!

And in 1945, delegates met from all over the world to draft and sign the Charter of the United Nations. President Franklin D. Roosevelt died just 12 days before he was to have opened the United Nations Conference in San Francisco. President Harry Truman still proceeded this conference. In the middle of the two-month conference, over 500 delegates representing 46 nations took the time off from the conference to go to Muir Woods National Monument to honor and to pay tribute to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Muir Woods’ Cathedral Grove.  Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., U.S. Secretary of State, who spoke of Muir Woods as a symbol of Roosevelt’s ideals, saying, “These great redwoods at Muir Woods National Monument are the most enduring of all trees. Many of them stood here centuries after every man now living is dead. They are as timeless and as strong as the ideals and faith of Franklin D. Roosevelt.”

Muir Woods is a great place to see some amazing redwood trees, check out the history here, and take in a few hikes! If you’re in the Bay Area, I highly recommend that you check out Muir Woods National Monument!

muir woods