A multi-million dollars gondola, Redwood Forest Sky Trail shoots up the hill, offering an exclusive bird-eye view of the towering trees. Being a real tourist trap, Sky Trail is a quarter-mile walk through the curiously shaped trees and elaborately chainsaw sculptures, mysteriously accompanied by audio stories. You will head towards the coast on the rolling ridgetop Sky Trail through a towering Douglas-fir forest with a rich lower story of Douglas iris, western sword fern, red elderberry, and ever green huckleberries. Light green moss drip from the fir branches. The spectacular Point Reyes coastline will spread before you and you will be able to see some vestiges of the 1995 Vision Fire on the coastal slopes.
If you look Northwest from the Sky Trail on Inverness Ridge, you will see a forest of burnt trees that stretches toward the coast. The only obvious remnants of the fire are the charred tree trunks. It is curious, but the vibrant growth that now coats the area is also the result of the fire. In fact, bishop pines, redwood seeds require intense heat from fire to burst out of their thick coast. So, besides the devastating effect, fire is an indispensable part of the life cycle of many plants in the forest, including Douglas-fern.
Along the way, you can also marvel ornate costumes, baskets and tapestries which are displayed at a small Native American Museum.
