Notable Sequoias


A lot of people have seen the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree in the world.  
Its total trunk volume exceeds 52,500 cubic feet!  But who has seen the sequoia
with the greatest ground perimeter (155 feet)?  It grows up in the Alder Creek
Grove just north of Camp Nelson.
The Stagg Tree is there as well, it's the 5th
largest in the world. It is also the biggest tree on private land (can you imagine saying
you own the 5th largest tree in the world?!?)

How about the sequoia with the largest branch (12 feet in diameter) that grows in
the Atwell Mill-Eastfork Grove near Mineral King in Sequoia National Park. Three of
the top 40 sequoias also grow here.

The Ghost Tree and Packsaddle Giant (#33) are in the Packsaddle Grove, one of the
southernmost groves near California Hot Springs in Giant Sequoia National Monument.

The Teeter-Totter tree, a dead sequoia that you can actually lift, is in the McIntyre
Grove just east of Camp Nelson. The Patriarch Tree also grows here, it's #40.

The Great Bonsai Tree, a monstrous but short sequoia that has limbs extending to
the ground, grows near the Genesis Tree, #8, and six more of the top 40 largest
sequoias that grow in the Mountain Home Grove in Mountain Home State Forest.

The Adam Tree, #21, is the 2nd largest tree in the Mountain Home Grove.  Nearby
you can see the Eve Tree that, unfortunately, was axed to death near the turn of the
century when private lumbermen tried to log this area :(

#29 Great Goshawk Tree grows in the Freeman Creek Grove, the easternmost
grove and also the biggest grove in wilderness condition on Giant Sequoia NM. There
are more than 700 trees here that are 10 feet or more in diameter at breast
height.  I have yet to find it but just by hiking the Freeman Creek Trail you can see
lots of beautiful sequoia trees including the
George Bush Tree.  It was named after
the first President Bush after he signed a proclamation protecting all the Giant
Sequoia Trees in California.  
Click here to read Bush's proclamation and Clinton's
which established the Giant Sequoia National Monument.

#32 Black Mountain Beauty grows in the
Black Mountain Grove on the ridge south of
Camp Nelson in Giant Sequoia NM. This grove also has the longest continuous road
within a grove, the Solo Peak Road, which is 8 miles long. There are more than 1,000
trees here that are more than 10' dbh including the 3 Sisters. And both times I've
been to this grove there has never been a single soul up there with me! It's
definitely one of my favorite groves.

The King Arthur Tree, #10, is in the Garfield-Dillonwood Grove. The
Dillonwood
section was until recently in private hands - it was bought by the Save-the-Redwoods
League and given to Sequoia National Park. You access it from Giant Sequoia NM lands
just north of Springville.  The
Garfield section is accessible via the Hockett Trail
which starts at South Fork Campground in Sequoia National Park.

The Ishi Giant, #14, grows in the Kennedy Meadow Grove in Giant Sequoia NM near
Kings Canyon NP. This tree was not measured until 1993.

The Boole Tree, #6, the biggest tree on National Forest lands, grows up in the
Converse Basin Grove in Giant Sequoia NM near Kings Canyon NP.

To see these trees one needs to get off the beaten path and that requires some
time, patience, map and compass use, and it's best to do these sorts of treks with a
buddy... So let me know if you'd like to go hiking with me to seek out some of these
least visited big trees that I haven't gotten to see yet.  And who knows, maybe we'll
find one bigger than Sherman in the process ;)


More info...

To Find the Biggest Tree by Wendell Flint
Giant Sequoia Groves of California by Dwight Willard
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
Giant Sequoia National Monument

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