The Giant Forest Museum is a
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
, dedicated to the main features of the
Giant Forest
The Giant Forest, famed for its giant sequoia trees, is within the United States' Sequoia National Park. This montane forest, situated at over above mean sea level in the western Sierra Nevada of California, covers an area of . The Giant Forest ...
area of
Sequoia National Park
Sequoia National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and today protects of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing ...
, including its
giant sequoias
''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' (giant sequoia; also known as giant redwood, Sierra redwood, Sierran redwood, California big tree, Wellingtonia or simply big treea nickname also used by John Muir) is the sole living species in the genus ''Sequoiade ...
,
meadows
A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifici ...
, and also the human history of the area.
History
The renovation of the market building of historic Giant Forest, started in 1999, and was completed to a museum and
visitor center
A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to visitors.
Types of visitor center
A visit ...
in summer 2001.
Activities
At the museum and nearby, one can do the following:
* Learn how to identify the trees of the area;
* learn the difference between
California coastal redwoods and giant sequoias;
* explore the
natural history and
ecology
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
of
Sequoia National Park
Sequoia National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and today protects of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing ...
via
interactive exhibit
An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...
s;
* stroll around Round Meadow, an easy mile; and
* hike the Hazelwood areas and see the
Hazelwood Tree.
Management
The museum is managed by the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
.
See also
*
List of giant sequoia groves
This is a list of giant sequoia groves. All naturally occurring giant sequoia groves are located in the moist, unglaciated ridges and valleys of the western slope of the Sierra Nevada range in California, United States. They can be found at ele ...
*
List of largest giant sequoias
The giant sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') is the world's most massive tree, and arguably the largest living organism on Earth. It is neither the tallest extant species of tree (that distinction belongs to the coast redwood), nor is it the ...
References
External links and references
The museum's website
visitsequoia.com linkhikespeak.com linksierranevadageotourism.org link
National Park Service museums
Sequoia National Park
National Park Service rustic in Sequoia National Park
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