Giant Forest, Ancient sequoia forest in Tulare County, United States.
Giant Forest is a grove of giant sequoias in Sequoia National Park, Tulare County, California, covering 1,880 acres at 1,800–2,100 m in the western Sierra Nevada. Its massive trunks have reddish-brown bark with deep vertical furrows, and the canopy of green foliage rises above smaller trees. Five of the ten most massive trees on Earth grow here, including the General Sherman Tree, the largest known tree by volume.
Sequoia National Park was created in 1890, protecting the Giant Forest. Indigenous peoples, including the Western Mono and Tubatulabal, had used controlled burns there until cultural burning was banned in 1850. The Giant Forest Lodge Historic District was designated in 1978; its buildings were demolished between 1995 and 2000, and overnight services moved to Wuksachi Village.
The Giant Forest Museum, housed in a converted market building, displays exhibits about sequoia ecology and forest conservation through educational programs.
The forest is reachable via State Route 180 from Fresno or State Route 198 from Visalia, with parking areas scattered throughout. Trails vary in length and difficulty, ranging from short walks to longer hikes among the giant trees.
The Washington tree was the second-largest sequoia in the world until January 2005, when a storm broke it at the point of a 2003 lightning scar; it now stands about 35 m tall. Scientists found a cavity inside its trunk 35 m high and up to 3 m wide, entered only from 58 m up, which showed earlier volume figures were overstated.
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