The best giant sequoias in California

When I hear the words California and trees in the same sentence, my mind immediately goes to giant Sequoias. As an ecologist myself, my love for nature and trees is endless, and these colossal trees have conquered a place in my heart ever since I saw them with my own eyes. There are a lot of places where you can view giant Sequoias in all their glory, some a bit busier than others. Here are my favorite trails to spot these beauties in California.

Let’s get something out of the way first: the difference between a giant sequoia and a California coastal redwood. For many people, giant trees are just giant trees. For ecologist, they are about as different as spaghetti bolognaise and lasagna. To put it simple, giant sequoias are short and fat and coastal redwoods are long and thin. Although “short” and “thin” are relative if you’re talking about +95 meter (310 ft) trees.

Coastal redwoods naturally grow along, you guessed it, the California coast (and a bit of Oregon, too). This very small coastal region has enough fog to provide moisture to the trees. Giant sequoias, on the other hand, grow more inland. You can find them on the west slopes of the Sierra Nevada. Some of the more famous spots are in Yosemite and Kings Canyon.

Trail of 100 Giants

The Trail of 100 Giants is located in the Giant Sequoia National Monument, not to be confused with the Giant Sequoia National Park or the Giant Sequoia National Forest. Although, if you want to get technical, the Giant Sequoia National Monument is located inside the Giant Sequoia National Forest…

But enough with the technicalities. You can find the Trail of 100 Giants right across from the Redwood Meadow Campground on the Great Western Divide Highway (M 107). Parking is easy, and the campground includes facilities like restrooms and a picnic area. When I visited this place back in 2017, parking was free, but it seems that there is a $10 parking fee in place now. During the winter months (November – April), the roads leading up to the trail are usually closed because of snow.

The Trail of 100 Giants is a short, easy trail that takes you along some of Long Meadow Grove’s biggest Giant Sequoia trees. The biggest trees you’ll see there are estimated to be up to 1,500 years old. The grove has about 125 giant sequoias with a diameter greater than 3 meters (10 ft). Trust me, you’re not going to be able to put your arms around those trees, see the attached photo as evidence. The 2 km (1,3mi) trail is paved, flat, and wheelchair accessible. The trail has several loops.

In 2021, the Windy Fire burned through the Long Meadow Grove, thus damaging this beautiful trail. The good news is that Giant Sequoia actually thrives after a fire. You see, full-grown giant sequoias are pretty adapted to survive California’s ever-increasing wildfires. Their bark is fire resistant and can grow up to 60 cm (2 ft) thick. Another neat trick of these trees is that their seeds actually need fire, or at least some pretty extreme heat. Green cones full of seeds grow all the way up the top of the tree. These green cones have viable seeds inside them for up to 20 years, but without any insects or fire to crack them open, the seeds remain trapped inside. When fire rages through a grove filled with giant sequoias, the heat dries out the cones and cracks them open so the seed can finally “escape” and make new trees. As of now (April 2022), the Trail of 100 Giants is still temporarily closed while work is ongoing to re-construct the trail.

The biggest (by volume)

The biggest tree in the world, or at least if you measure by volume, is the General Sherman Tree in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park. The tree is estimated to be around 2,200 to 2,700 years old. The Giant Forest is regarded as the most accessible place to see giant sequoias, as it has over 64 km (40mi) of well-maintained hiking trails. The Giant Forest is also the largest of all the remaining unlogged giant sequoia groves, so it has more really, really big sequoias than any other grove.

If you’re really into massive trees, then the Giant Forest is the place to be for you. The entire forest has more than 8,000 giant sequoias and no less than five of the ten biggest trees on Earth are located in the Giant Forest. If you’re up for some learning, definitely stop by the Giant Forest Museum first for an introduction to the wonderful world of giant sequoias.

Fun fact: While General Sherman is the largest tree known, it is neither the tallest, nor the widest, nor the oldest living tree on Earth. Still, it’s a pretty impressive tree.

The coolest (but I’m cheating a bit here)

I think we all know that picture of a car driving through a giant tree, am I right? That’s the Chandelier Tree, located in Leggett, California. I am very carefully using the word tree here because the Chandelier is not a giant sequoia, but a coastal redwood. I’ve allowed this small indiscretion because it is just so cool to drive your car through a tree, you know. Do keep in mind that this tree is nowhere close to all the other sequoia trees as we’re talking about a coastal redwood here, which only grows near the coast and not the Sierra Nevada mountain range. You can find the tree at the aptly named Drive-Thru Tree Park, which is open year-round except on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The Chandelier stands proudly at 84 meters (276 ft) tall and has a 1,8 meter (6ft) wide and 2,06 meter (6 ft 9 inch) high hole at its base. The hole was carved sometime in the 1930s. I know you Americans have big cars, so don’t worry if you don’t fit. There is a little bypass in case you underestimated the true size of your car.