Pioneer Cabin Tree, Giant sequoia in Calaveras Big Trees State Park, United States.
Pioneer Cabin Tree was a giant sequoia in Calaveras Big Trees State Park, California, with a trunk 33 feet (10 m) in diameter and a height of about 150 feet (45 m). A tunnel cut through its fire-hollowed base let pedestrians and later cars pass through; the tree fell on January 8, 2017.
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.
The name came from the burnt trunk, whose compartments, chimney-like core and back opening resembled a log cabin. From the 1880s visitors were encouraged to carve their names into the wood, a practice banned in the 1930s. Later drivers passed through on the Big Trees Trail, then hikers on the North Grove Loop.
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.
The tree's name came from its burnt core, which served as a chimney, with small compartments like a log cabin and a small opening as a backdoor. The tunnel was cut in the early 1880s at the request of James Sperry, founder of the Murphys Hotel.
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