Big Trees, California
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Calaveras Big Trees State Park is a
state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...
of
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, United States, preserving two groves of giant sequoia trees. It is located 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Arnold, California in the middle elevations of the
Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...
. It has been a major tourist attraction since 1852, when the existence of the trees was first widely reported, and is considered the longest continuously operated tourist facility in California.


History


Early History

The giant sequoia was well known to Native American tribes living in its area. Native American names for the species include ''Wawona'', ''toos-pung-ish'' and ''hea-mi-within'', the latter two in the language of the Tule River Tribe. The first reference to the giant sequoias of Calaveras Big Trees by Europeans is in 1833, in the diary of the explorer J. K. Leonard; the reference does not mention any specific locality, but his route would have taken him through the Calaveras Grove., Yosemite.ca.us This discovery was not publicized. The next European to see the trees was John M. Wooster, who carved his initials in the bark of the 'Hercules' tree in the Calaveras Grove in 1850; again, this received no publicity. Much more publicity was given to the "discovery" by Augustus T. Dowd of the North Grove in 1852, and this is commonly cited as the discovery of both the grove and the species as a whole. The " Discovery Tree" was noted by Augustus T. Dowd in 1852 and felled in 1853, leaving a giant stump and a section of trunk showing the holes made by the augers used to fell it. It measured in diameter at its base and was determined by ring count to be 1,244 years old when felled. A section of the trunk was toured with little fanfare while the stump was later turned into a dance floor.
John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, a ...
wrote an essay titled "The Vandals Then Danced Upon the Stump!" to criticize the felling of the tree. In 1854, a second tree named the "
Mother of the Forest The Mother of the Forest (667 BCE – c. 1856 CE) was an ancient and huge ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' tree. The tree lived in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada Mountains in eastern central California, United States. The dead tree's remai ...
" was skinned alive, of its bark in 1854, to be reassembled at exhibitions. This mortally wounded the tree, since outer layer of protective bark was taken away, tree lost its resistance to fire. If you look closely there are still horizontal saw marks in the wood to remove the bark. The tree didn't survive long after, having shed its entire canopy by 1861. In 1908, with the tree unprotected by its fire resistant bark, a fire swept through the area and burned away much of what was left of the tree. Today, only a fire-blackened snag remains of the Mother of the Forest. In early 1880s, a tunnel was cut through the compartments by a private land owner at the request of James Sperry, founder of the Murphys Hotel, so that tourists could pass through it. The tree was chosen in part because of the large forest fire scar. The
Pioneer Cabin Tree The Pioneer Cabin Tree, also known as The Tunnel Tree, was a giant sequoia in Calaveras Big Trees State Park, California. It was considered one of the U.S.'s most famous trees, and drew thousands of visitors annually. It was estimated to have ...
, as it was soon called, emulated the tunnel carved into Yosemite's
Wawona Tree The Wawona Tree, also known as the Wawona Tunnel Tree, was a famous giant sequoia that stood in Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park, California, USA, until February 1969. It had a height of and was in diameter at the base. The origin of the ...
, and was intended to compete with it for tourists.


Calls for preservation

Despite or due to the 1850s exhibitions, the destruction of the big trees was met with public outcry. In 1864, on introducing the bill that would become the
Yosemite Grant Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ...
, senator
John Conness John Conness (September 22, 1821 – January 10, 1909) was a first-generation Irish-American businessman who served as a U.S. Senator (1863–1869) from California during the American Civil War and the early years of Reconstruction. He intr ...
opined that even after people had seen the physical evidence of the Discovery Tree and the
Mother of the Forest The Mother of the Forest (667 BCE – c. 1856 CE) was an ancient and huge ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' tree. The tree lived in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada Mountains in eastern central California, United States. The dead tree's remai ...
, they still did not believe the trees were genuine, and that the areas they were from should be protected instead. However, this did not guarantee any legal protection for the trees of Calaveras Grove.


Establishing Calaveras Big Trees State Park

By the turn of the century the land was owned by several lumber companies, with plans to cut the remaining trees down, as sequoia and giant sequoia with their thick trunks were seen as great sources of lumber at the time. This again caused a chorus of public outcry by locals and
conservationists The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental, and social movement that seeks to manage and protect natural resources, including animal, fungus, and plant species as well as their habitat for the f ...
, and the area continued to be treated as a tourist attraction. The Yosemite protection was gradually extended to most sequoias, and Calaveras Grove was joined to California State Parks in 1931. Parcels of land that would later become the state park and nearby national park were optioned by lumberman Robert P. Whiteside in January 1900, with the intention of logging. A protracted battle to preserve the trees was launched by
Laura Lyon White Laura Lyon White (April 12, 1839 – January 18, 1916) was an American activist, best known for founding the California Club, working to preserve groves of redwoods in California, and promoting the City Beautiful movement. She wrote several pi ...
and the
California Club Based in Los Angeles, California, the California Club is an by-invitation-only private club established in 1888. According to Los Angeles Times, "The people who ''run'' Los Angeles belong to the Jonathan Club; the people who ''own'' Los Angel ...
. Despite legislation in 1900 and 1909 authorizing the federal government to purchase the property, Whiteside refused to sell the land at the offered price, preferring its higher valuation as parkland. It was not until 1931 that Whiteside's family began to divest the property, beginning with the North Grove. The area was declared a state park in 1931 and now encompasses in Calaveras and Tuolumne counties. Over the years other parcels of mixed conifer forests, including the much larger South Calaveras Grove of Giant Sequoias (purchased in 1954 for US$2.8 million, equivalent to US $ in dollars), have been added to the park to bring the total area to over . The North Grove contains about 100 mature giant sequoias; the South Grove, about 1,000. According to Naturalist
John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, a ...
the forest protected by the park is: "A flowering glade in the very heart of the woods, forming a fine center for the student, and a delicious resting place for the weary."


Attractions

The North Grove includes several noteworthy giant sequoias: * Discovery Tree: the stump of what was once the largest tree of the park. *
Mother of the Forest The Mother of the Forest (667 BCE – c. 1856 CE) was an ancient and huge ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' tree. The tree lived in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada Mountains in eastern central California, United States. The dead tree's remai ...
: a fire-blackened snag is all that remains of the second largest tree of the park. *
Pioneer Cabin Tree The Pioneer Cabin Tree, also known as The Tunnel Tree, was a giant sequoia in Calaveras Big Trees State Park, California. It was considered one of the U.S.'s most famous trees, and drew thousands of visitors annually. It was estimated to have ...
: a giant sequoia tree that collapsed during a storm on January 8, 2017; it was one of only two living giant sequoia tunnel trees still standing (the other being the California Tunnel Tree of
Mariposa Grove Mariposa Grove is a sequoia grove located near Wawona, California, United States, in the southernmost part of Yosemite National Park. It is the largest grove of giant sequoias in the park, with several hundred mature examples of the tree. Two of i ...
). *Empire State: the largest tree of the North Grove, which measures at ground level and at above ground. The South Grove also included several noteworthy giant sequoias: *
Louis Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he rec ...
: the largest living tree of the Calaveras groves measuring tall and more than in diameter above ground. It is the 37th largest giant sequoia in the world, and could be considered either the 36th or 35th largest depending on how badly
Ishi Giant Ishi Giant is a giant sequoia in California, United States. It is located in Kennedy Grove, which is part of a group of eight closely spaced giant sequoia groves situated in Sequoia National Forest in the Sierra Nevada in eastern central Californ ...
and Black Mountain Beauty have atrophied following devastating wildfires in
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
and
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
, respectively. *Palace Hotel Tree: the second largest living tree of the Calaveras groves; features a large deep burn scar at its base that one can walk into. This tree has nails burned into its inner trunk by past travelers. Other attractions of Calaveras Big Trees include the
Stanislaus River The Stanislaus River is a tributary of the San Joaquin River in north-central California in the United States. The main stem of the river is long, and measured to its furthest headwaters it is about long. Originating as three forks in the high ...
, Beaver Creek, the Lava Bluff Trail, and Bradley Trail.


Activities

The park houses two main campgrounds with a total of 129 campsites, six picnic areas and hundreds of miles of established trails. Other activities include cross-country skiing, evening ranger talks, numerous interpretive programs, environmental educational programs, junior ranger programs, hiking, mountain biking, bird watching and summer school activities for school children. Dogs are welcome in the park on leash in developed areas like picnic sites, campgrounds, roads and fire roads (dirt). Dogs are not allowed on the designated trails, nor in the woods in general.


Public access

The park is open year-round. The main road through the park is closed during the winter season. The North Grove Area is easily accessible during the winter season.


Public transportation

There are no public transportation options to the park at this time. The closest bus stop is the Arnold Public Library in Arnold, California.


Accessing the park via Gate 15

The park is accessible via Upper Moran road at gate 15. There is no public parking. Consider this access option if entering the park on foot, bicycle, snowshoe or cross-country ski.


See also

*
Calaveras Big Tree National Forest Calaveras Big Tree National Forest, in the Sierra Nevada, was established in California on May 11, 1954 with to protect a grove of Giant Sequoias, although it had been authorized since February 18, 1909. Combined Calaveras Big Tree National ...
* Chandelier Tree - another tunnel tree, but a coast redwood not a giant sequoia * List of giant sequoia groves *
List of California state parks This is a list of parks, historic resources, reserves and recreation areas in the California State Parks system. List of parks See also *California State Beaches *List of California State Historic Parks * Parks in California * California Depa ...


References


Notes


Citations


External links


Calaveras Big Trees State Park

Calaveras Big Trees Association
* {{authority control State parks of California Campgrounds in California Forests of California Giant sequoia groves Parks in Calaveras County, California Protected areas established in 1931 Protected areas of the Sierra Nevada (United States) 1931 establishments in California History of Calaveras County, California