The General Sherman tree, named after an American general, is located in Sequoia National Park’s Giant Forest, which has five of the ten biggest trees in the world. General Sherman was identified as the world’s biggest tree in 1931. It isn’t the world’s tallest tree or its widest, but with the largest volume, at 1,487 cubic meters. The tree is estimated to be around two thousand five hundred years old.
DANGER!
It’s incredible to stand in front of the General Sherman tree and marvel at its size. But be careful! In 2006, the tree’s biggest branch, at over thirty meters long and two meters in diameter, broke off. It destroyed part of the perimeter fence. Despite this and the tree’s antiquity, experts say it is in good health and will probably be there for thousands of years to come.
HYPERION
As well as the world’s biggest tree, California is also home to two other superlative trees. The world’s tallest tree, at almost one hundred and sixteen meters, is a sequoia named Hyperion. Its location has never been revealed to the public; all we know is that it is in a remote part of the coast of Northern California. The world’s oldest tree, estimated to be 5,067 years old, is a Great Basin bristlecone pine in the White Mountains of Central California. Its exact location is also a secret.
TUNNEL LOG
More than a million people visit Sequoia National Park every year, not only to see General Sherman and explore the Giant Forest, but also to drive through Tunnel Log – a tunnel through a fallen giant sequoia –, go underground in the amazing Crystal Cave, climb the four hundred steps to the top of Moro Rock for magnificent views, or go camping, hiking and fishing in idyllic places.
