The LARGEST TREES on EARTH! | Sequoia National Park 2023 Travel Guide

on this travel vlog i'm headed to the sierra nevada mountains of california in a place known as the giant forest you'll find some of the biggest trees there are the biggest trees and the largest single living thing on the entire planet and i'm going to show you how to get there along with a lot of other amazing things to do and see while you're here this is sequoia national park [Music] hi there and welcome to dantrax i'm dan and today i'm taking you to one of my favorite of all the u.s national parks sequoia before i would make it to those big trees though there was some place just a little bit different i was starting out at big sur and pacific highway one beautiful beaches turquoise blue water and trees the famous redwoods but they've got their own national park though right now we were off to see the giant sequoias we entered sequoia national park at its foothills visitor center at the base of the mountains but now it was time to start the drive up [Music] the general's highway twists and turns up the mountainside taking visitors into the heart of the park i had to wonder though who built these roads in the first place and how [Music] before the national park service was founded the u.s army acted as the first protectors and overseers of america's earliest parks in 1899 nearly 500 buffalo soldiers all black regiments of the army arrived in california and were stationed in san francisco yosemite national park and sequoia national park it was here that colonel charles young would become the first african-american park superintendent working extensively in sequoia to stop poaching extinguish wildfires and construct some of the earliest public roads into the park letting many visitors get to see the big trees for the first time ever the higher you get the taller and larger the trees become until finally the giant sequoia begin to appear their size and red colored bark making them stick out none of these giants were the big one though the largest living thing on earth the general sherman tree [Music] we wouldn't be visiting the sherman tree yet first we had to make camp in what is arguably the park's most popular campground lodgepole lodgepole is essentially the hub of the park at least the easily accessible parts with over 800 miles of trails the park is 97 wilderness the general's highway and lodgepole fall in that other three percent [Music] campsites in lodgepole need to be reserved well in advance online and they'll go pretty quickly in the spring and summer i'll be completely honest with you i don't really love tent camping but considering it costs around twenty five dollars a night versus three hundred dollars a night to stay in the lodge in sequoia i can tough it out if you'd like more information on where to stay the best views hikes and even more feel free to click the link in the description below for my complete written guide to sequoia national park be sure to keep an eye out for wildlife in sequoia too including some of the park's most famous residents [Music] despite california state flag there's no grizzly bears here anymore just black bears don't worry they can still kill you if they want to though we spotted this guy on the way to our first hike in the park crescent meadow [Music] the road to crescent meadow is found just off the general's highway about 10 minutes from lodgepole [Music] before you get there though there's a few places along the road that are definitely worth stopping for [Music] there's always one question that everyone asks when they come to sequoia where is the tree that i can drive through the one you're probably thinking of is up in yosemite national park or at least it was until it fell over back in 1969 as it turns out cutting a gigantic hole right through the center of a tree isn't good for it weird right the practice of cutting through the giant trees ended a long time ago on the road to crescent meadow there is a tree you can actually drive through though the tunnel log this 2000 year old sequoia came crashing down in 1939 and instead of clearing it from the road the park service just decided to cut a tunnel through it there's a number of meadows in the park but crescent meadow is one of the best there's a reason john muir called it the gem of the sierras at only one and a half miles long the trail loops around the meadow and passed some pretty impressive giant sequoia it's a great introductory hike for first-time visitors to the park [Music] one thing you're going to notice are the massive burn scars on the trees wildfires of the culprit and to actually play a pretty important role in the growth of giant sequoias you could even say that these trees are born by fire while the bark of the giant sequoia is relatively fire resistant the trees actually rely on wildfire to crack open their cones and release their seeds planting new sequoia trees some 2200 years ago the general sherman was probably planted the same way we would save the sherman for tomorrow though but first thing in the morning we were hiking to the vista at the top of morro rock up early into one solid breakfast later we found ourselves back on the crescent metal road to do the short steep but rewarding hike that is moral rock a granite dome the hike to the top of morro rock and back down is only about half a mile total but it's all on this steep staircase that's literally built into the rock itself the view up here of the sierra nevada mountains and the great western divide make it all worth it though you also get a great view of the forest behind you with a sequoia stick out from the other trees with their size and distinctive red bark you might be wondering what's the difference between a giant sequoia and a redwood tree [Music] the trees are actually kind of cousins but in short sequoias are wider while redwoods are generally taller sequoias are only found in a few groves on the western side of the sierra nevada mountains while redwoods grow on the coast of california sequoia are also larger by volume which is where the general sherman gets his title of the largest living thing [Music] the general sherman is over 36 feet wide stands 275 feet tall and weighs 2.7 million pounds lastly it has a volume of 52 508 cubic feet making it the record holder and the largest living thing also it's still growing how did it get so big though the answer is location it grew in a perfect spot with ample access to sunlight and space here it wasn't competing with other vegetation including other giant sequoias i've talked enough about this tree now how about we actually go take a look at it the sherman tree is probably the most popular attraction in the park if you want a spot in the parking lot of the trailhead you're going to want to arrive early otherwise you're probably going to have to ride the park shuttle in the trail to the sherman is only half a mile long and paved meaning it's accessible for most people along the way you'll see this cutout a scale replica of just how wide the tree is it doesn't take long and then you see it the largest living thing on earth [Music] the general sherman tree [Music] if you want your picture taken in front of it you might have to wait a while though it gets pretty busy here [Music] so you made it to the general sherman the largest living thing on earth maybe you even got your picture taken in front of it well great now what don't leave just yet you're actually next to one of the best trails in all of sequoia national park leave at least some of the crowds behind and make for the congress trail which is right next to the general sherman it's only two miles long and it has some of the most spectacular giant sequoia in the entire park along it you'll find big clusters of the trees here like the senate or the house groups [Music] or other individual ones like the president tree this is the oldest living sequoia 3 200 years old for reference the roman empire didn't even exist yet when this tree first began growing [Music] later that night a ranger asked me if i had taken a picture of the general sherman tree to which i said yes next he asked if any of my pictures did it justice the answer was definitely no [Music] it's amazing to me that something so big can start out as something so small talk about humble beginnings if sequoia is a bit too busy for you you should probably head to its sister park only an hour's drive away kings canyon full of giant sequoia trees here you'll also find glacial valleys toppling waterfalls and even more it's one of the few remaining untouched gems in the national park service and if you'd like more information on sequoia or kings canyon check out the links in the description below for my complete written guides to both [Music] you

Channel: Dan Treks

Views: 19,263

Keywords:

Id: e9HykmDdzxg

Length: 13min 38sec (818 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 03 2021