Fun facts about Sequoia National Park Giant Sequoia’s
These were the most amazing trees I have ever seen, You can’t even imagine how tall these trees are, standing next to them, you feel so small. The tree won’t even fit in the picture!
Sequoia National Park – WOW Those are Giant Trees!
- Giant Sequoia trees are resistant to most diseases, fungi, etc. Falling over is what kills them since they have a shallow root system and no taproot.
- Giant Sequoias can not only survive forest fires, but they also thrive on them and depend on them to reproduce. Rangers will actually set controlled fires in the groves to help the trees. Fire actually helps open the seeds so they can grow.
- The giant sequoia regenerates by seed. Young trees start to bear cones at the age of 12 years. Trees up to about 20 years old may produce stump sprouts subsequent to injury, but unlike coast redwoods, shoots do not form on the stumps of mature trees.
- Giant Sequoia Trees are the largest trees on Earth by volume but not the tallest? The tallest trees are the Coast Redwoods in California. They can live up to 3,000 years.
- Giant sequoias have very specific climate requirements, so specific that they grow naturally only in a narrow 260-mile strip of mixed conifer forest on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains, primarily between 5,000 and 7,000 feet in elevation.
The General Sherman Tree
- The General Sherman Tree, in California’s Sequoia National Park, boasts a mass of 52,500 cubic feet? The trunk alone weighs about 1400 tons or the equivalent of 15 blue whales.
- General Sherman is the world’s largest living tree and is estimated to be about 2,200 years old! Its largest branch, with a diameter of almost 7 feet, is larger than most trees in the U.S. east of the Mississippi.
- General Sherman was given its name in 1879 by naturalist James Wolverton, who had served under the real General Sherman during the Civil War.
- Anyone can see the Sherman Tree. It’s located at the north end of an area known as the Giant Forest within Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks. Two hiking trails lead to the tree, the most direct route being a 0.5-mile hike from the parking area on Wolverton Road.
~Source Wikipedia
The General Sherman
Be sure to check out our photo gallery below of our visit to these amazing trees!
