Redwood Mountain Grove is the largest grove of

giant sequoia ''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 ...

(''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') trees on earth. It is located in

Kings Canyon National Park Kings Canyon National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada, in Fresno and Tulare Counties, California. Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, the park was greatly expanded and renamed to King ...

and

Giant Sequoia National Monument The Giant Sequoia National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located in the southern Sierra Nevada in eastern central California. It is administered by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Sequoia National Forest and includes 38 of the 3 ...

on the western slope of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

's Sierra Nevada. The grove contains the world's tallest giant sequoia (). The Hart Tree and Roosevelt Tree grow in the grove and are two of the 25 largest trees by volume in the world. The largest tree is the General Sherman Tree in 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 ...

grove to the southeast.

The Grove

The Redwood Mountain Grove contains the most giant sequoia trees within its area. The area has old-growth giant sequoia groves and other distinctive natural features of the forest for visitors to view and experience. The Redwood Mountain Grove is protected primarily within

, and in

KNP Complex Fire

In 2021, the grove burned in the KNP Complex Fire. Although the majority of the grove burned at unchanged to moderate severity, the lower quarter of the grove burned at a high severity, and several other patches within the grove also burned at high severity. Most of the major sequoia mortality from the KNP Complex is thought to have been from this. Of the of the grove, or 23% burned at high intensity, which would lead to a >75% mortality rate on that area.

Trails

The grove's 3 hiking trails are: the Redwood Canyon Trail (central grove); Sugar Bowl Trail (southwest); and the Hart Tree Trail (northwest). Their total length connect for 3 loop route options. They all begin at the Redwood Canyon Trailhead, via the dirt Forest Service Route 14S75 off the

Generals Highway The Generals Highway is a highway that connects State Route 180 and State Route 198 through Sequoia National Park, Sequoia National Forest, Giant Sequoia National Monument, and Kings Canyon National Park in the Sierra Nevada of California. As ...

. They give visitors walking/hiking access to see giant sequoia trees within 'wilderness' natural habitats and views of the surrounding canyons and mountains. In Redwood Canyon along Redwood Creek, the grove's understory is dense with other

native plant In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...

species. The Sugar Bowl is an unusual pure giant sequoia grove on top of Redwood Mountain.

Plant life and fire studies

The grove contains many types of plant life, with the most significant being the giant sequoias. Within the grove one finds many different tree species. The trees that are most prominent in the grove include species such as the

white fir ''Abies concolor'', the white fir, is a coniferous tree in the pine family Pinaceae. This tree is native to the mountains of western North America, including the Cascade Range and southern Rocky Mountains, and into the isolated mountain ranges ...

, sugar pine,

incense cedar ''Calocedrus'', the incense cedar (alternatively spelled incense-cedar), is a genus of coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae first described as a genus in 1873. It is native to eastern Asia and western North America. The generic n ...

ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

red fir ''Abies magnifica'', the red fir or silvertip fir, is a western North American fir, native to the mountains of southwest Oregon and California in the United States. It is a high-elevation tree, typically occurring at elevation, though only rare ...

, and Jeffrey pine. Each type of these tree species is most numerous within different sections of the grove. The trees have a significant importance to the grove, and natural disasters such as fires have many effects on it. In 1969, parts of the grove were burned to prevent the possibility of other fires from happening, and they aided in restoring the ecosystem and natural life in the area. Fires such as these were also used for scientific research. The fires can have major effects on forests and other wilderness areas. The fires can act as part of the natural cycle for restoring natural life in the environment and ecosystems in the grove and other parks. The Redwood Mountain Grove was involved in several studies that looked at different species of trees present in the grove and the environment surrounding the area. Some of these studies included the investigation of how fires affected the trees and environment in the grove. The Redwood Mountain Grove was used for the study and analysis of several burns. The burning of small areas in the grove occurred to observe and understand the effects of different fires on the ecosystem. It also presented the benefits to the grove through the examination of the results of the areas burned. They highlighted the effects fires have on the many trees, other natural life, and wilderness of the Redwood Mountain Grove and its surroundings.

Noteworthy trees

Some of the significant trees found in the grove include: * Roosevelt Tree — the largest tree in the grove with a volume of over . * Hart Tree — a very tall tree with a volume of around , and a huge basal burn. Located near the Roosevelt Tree. * Unnamed tree — the tallest known giant sequoia tree, at in height.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Giant sequoia groves Giant Sequoia National Monument Kings Canyon National Park Protected areas of Tulare County, California