Pioneer Cabin Tree

Pioneer Cabin Tree was a giant sequoia in Calaveras Big Trees State Park in California that reached an estimated age of 1000 years. The hollow trunk stood 33 feet (10 meters) in diameter and offered passage for pedestrians.

Private landowners cut a tunnel through the trunk during the 1880s to draw more visitors, following the example of the Wawona Tree in Yosemite. The tree fell on January 8, 2017, during a severe storm, ending over a century as a tourist attraction.

For decades the trunk bore carvings left by visitors, until new guidelines ended this tradition in the 1930s. Today only photographs recall this former habit once thought harmless.

The trail to the former site of the tree remains closed while crews remove debris and secure the area. Visitors can explore other intact sequoias in the park along neighboring paths.

Lightning strikes and forest fires created natural chambers inside that resembled rooms in a wooden house. These cavities formed over centuries and shaped an unusual organic maze within the living wood.