Balch Park

Last updated
Balch Park
Usa edcp relief location map.png
Red pog.svg
Location Tulare County, California
Nearest city Springville, California
Coordinates 36°13′13″N118°40′46″W / 36.220404°N 118.679318°W / 36.220404; -118.679318 Coordinates: 36°13′13″N118°40′46″W / 36.220404°N 118.679318°W / 36.220404; -118.679318
Area160 acres (64.7 ha)
Governing body Tulare County, California
Carved wooden sign at the entrance to Balch County Park. Balch Park sign.jpg
Carved wooden sign at the entrance to Balch County Park.
The Hollow Log is one of the best known features of Balch County Park. Balch Park Hollow Log.jpg
The Hollow Log is one of the best known features of Balch County Park.

Balch Park is a county park in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains of California that features a grove of Giant Sequoia trees. It also has archaeological sites relating to the early Native Americans of the area, and to the late 19th- and early 20th-century logging industry that cut down many of the big trees in the area. [1] [2]

Contents

Description

Balch Park is known for its grove of Giant Sequoia trees that rivals the better known groves of nearby Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park. Two of the more impressive trees in the park are the Lady Alice Tree and the Allen Russell Tree, which is the 33rd largest Sequoia in the world and the largest tree in Balch Park. There is also the Hollow Log, which is a fallen Giant Sequoia that was formerly used as a dwelling and a warehouse. Just outside the park is the Genesis Tree, the 7th largest tree in the world, and the Adam Tree, which is the 20th largest tree. [3]

The area once supported several lumber mills, and even though many of the larger trees in the surrounding forest were logged, the trees at Balch Park were spared due to the efforts of conservation minded individuals, some of whom hoped to save the trees for future generations, and some of whom looked to profit from the trees as tourist attractions. [2] [4] A small museum near the entrance to the park has exhibits dedicated to the logging history of the area, [5] and a nature trail that begins at the museum winds through several of the larger trees.

Three large ponds within the park are popular fishing destinations, and are among some of the better known attractions in the area. One of these ponds, the Hedrick pond near the north edge of the park, was previously associated with an old lumber mill, and two others nearer the museum were dammed by the park authority in 1958 and made to resemble mill ponds. [6]

The park also has some unique archaeological sites including the "Indian Bathtubs", which are large basins in the granite bedrock near the ponds. These features have a controversial origin. Because they generally are closely associated with Indian bedrock mortar holes that are known to be man-made, some argue a man-made origin for the bathtubs also, whereas others insist that the bathtubs are natural features resulting from complex erosion processes. Some have even suggested that the bathtubs were created by alien visitors from outer space. [7] [8]

History

John J. Doyle in the mid-1880s acquired a 160 acres (64.7 ha) parcel in the area that corresponds today to Balch Park. Doyle established a resort that he called "Summer Home", with the intent of selling up to 125 lots to be developed with cabins. However, the lot sales never took place, and Doyle sold out in 1906 to the Mt. Whitney Power Company, which had plans to log the site for lumber to build a flume to carry water to a proposed power plant project. Once again no development or logging took place, and the Mt. Whitney company sold the project, and with it the land and trees, in 1923 to the San Joaquin Light and Power Company. The president of San Joaquin Light and Power, Allan C. Balch, eventually decided against logging the trees and donated the property in 1930 to Tulare County for a park to be named after him and his wife. [2] [4] After the Mountain Home State Demonstration Forest was set up in 1946, there was an attempt to transfer the park to State control. However, this was prevented by the terms of the original donation, and Balch Park today remains under control of Tulare County. [9]

See also

Mountain Home Grove

Related Research Articles

<i>Sequoiadendron giganteum</i> Species of tree found in North America

Sequoiadendron giganteum is the sole living species in the genus Sequoiadendron, and one of three species of coniferous trees known as redwoods, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae, together with Sequoia sempervirens and Metasequoia glyptostroboides. Giant sequoia specimens are the most massive trees on Earth. The common use of the name sequoia usually refers to Sequoiadendron giganteum, which occurs naturally only in groves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.

Sequoia National Park National park in the Sierra Nevada mountains, California, U.S.

Sequoia National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890 to protect 404,064 acres of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing a vertical relief of nearly 13,000 feet (4,000 m), the park contains the highest point in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney, at 14,505 feet (4,421 m) above sea level. The park is south of, and contiguous with, Kings Canyon National Park; both parks are administered by the National Park Service together as the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. UNESCO designated the areas as Sequoia-Kings Canyon Biosphere Reserve in 1976.

Calaveras Big Trees State Park

Calaveras Big Trees State Park is a state park of California, United States, preserving two groves of giant sequoia trees. It is located 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Arnold, California in the middle elevations of the Sierra Nevada. It has been a major tourist attraction since 1852, when the existence of the trees was first widely reported, and is considered the longest continuously operated tourist facility in California.

General Grant Grove

General Grant Grove, a section of the greater Kings Canyon National Park, was established by the US Congress in 1890 and is located in Fresno County, California. The primary attraction of General Grant Grove is the giant sequoia trees that populate the grove. General Grant Grove's most well-known tree is the General Grant Tree, which is 267 feet tall and the third largest known tree in the world. The General Grant Tree is over 1,500 years old and is known as the United States's national Christmas Tree. General Grant Grove consists of 154 acres and is geographically isolated from the rest of Kings Canyon National Park.

Sequoia National Forest

Sequoia National Forest is located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains of California. The U.S. National Forest is named for the majestic Giant Sequoia trees which populate 38 distinct groves within the boundaries of the forest.

Kaweah River River in the United States of America

The Kaweah River is a river draining the southern Sierra Nevada in Tulare County, California in the United States. Fed primarily by high elevation snowmelt along the Great Western Divide, the Kaweah begins as four forks in Sequoia National Park, where the watershed is noted for its alpine scenery and its dense concentrations of giant sequoias, the largest trees on Earth. It then flows in a southwest direction to Lake Kaweah – the only major reservoir on the river – and into the San Joaquin Valley, where it diverges into multiple channels across an alluvial plain around Visalia. With its Middle Fork headwaters starting at almost 13,000 feet (4,000 m) above sea level, the river has a vertical drop of nearly two and a half miles (4.0 km) on its short run to the San Joaquin Valley, making it one of the steepest river drainages in the United States. Although the main stem of the Kaweah is only 33.6 miles (54.1 km) long, its total length including headwaters and lower branches is nearly 100 miles (160 km).

Mountain Home Grove

Mountain Home Grove is a grove of giant sequoia trees located in the southern part of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, and includes some of the largest trees in the world.

Adam (tree)

The Adam Tree is a giant sequoia located in Mountain Home Grove, a sequoia grove in Giant Sequoia National Monument in the Sierra Nevada of California. It is the 21st largest giant sequoia in the world, and could be considered the 20th largest depending on how badly Ishi Giant atrophied during the Rough Fire in 2015.

Sequoia Crest, California census-designated place in California, United States

Sequoia Crest is a census-designated place (CDP) in Tulare County, California.The community of Sequoia Crest contains more than 150 Giant Sequoias scattered throughout the subdivision. Sequoia Crest sits at an elevation of 7,008 feet (2,136 m). The 2010 United States census reported Sequoia Crest's population was 10. Sequoia Crest can be reached from Porterville by 41 curvy miles most on California State Route 190 with an elevation gain of 6,549 feet.

Hollow Log (Balch Park)

The Hollow Log of Balch Park is the naturally hollowed out log of a fallen Giant Sequoia tree. It is also one of the best known features of the Mountain Home Grove, a stand of Giant Sequoia trees that surrounds Balch Park in Tulare County, California.

Methuselah (sequoia tree)

The Methuselah Tree is a giant sequoia located in Mountain Home State Forest, a sequoia grove located in Sequoia National Forest in the Sierra Nevada in eastern California. It is the 28th largest giant sequoia in the world, and could be considered the 27th largest depending on how badly Ishi Giant atrophied during the Rough Fire in 2015.

Hercules (tree)

The Hercules Tree in the Mountain Home Grove of California is a living giant sequoia tree that has a room carved into the center of it. It is also known as the "Room Tree".

Allen Russell is the 32nd or 33rd largest giant sequoia in the world. It is also the largest tree in Balch County Park, and is part of the Mountain Home Grove, a sequoia grove located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains of California, United States. It is the 34th largest giant sequoia in the world, and could be considered either the 33rd or 32nd largest depending on how badly Ishi Giant and Black Mountain Beauty have atrophied following devastating wildfires in 2015 and 2017, respectively.

The Summit Road Tree is a giant sequoia located in the Mountain Home Grove, one of several sequoia groves found in the southern Sierra Nevada of California. It is the 16th largest giant sequoia in the world, and could be considered the 15th largest depending on how badly Ishi Giant atrophied during the Rough Fire in 2015.

The Euclid Tree is a giant sequoia located in the Mountain Home Grove, one of several sequoia groves found in the southern Sierra Nevada of California. It is the 17th largest giant sequoia in the world, and could be considered the 16th largest depending on how badly Ishi Giant atrophied during the Rough Fire in 2015.

Pier Fire

The Pier Fire was a wildfire that burned near Springville and in the Sequoia National Forest, in California in the United States. The fire was reported on August 29, 2017. The cause of the fire is under investigation, but is believed to be human-caused. The fire was completely extinguished on November 29, after it had burned 36,556 acres (148 km2). The fire threatened old growth sequoia trees, the Tule River Indian Reservation, and many small communities in the area.

Floyd Otter (tree)

Floyd Otter is a giant sequoia located in Garfield Grove, which is itself located near the town of Three Rivers, California. The tree was named after former Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest manager Floyd L. Otter. The tree is the twelfth largest giant sequoia in the world.

Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest (MHDSF) is a state forest located on Bear Creek Road, 28 km (17 mi) northeast of Springville in Tulare County, California. The protected land covers an area of 4,807 acres (19 km2) with an elevation range between 1,463 m (4,800 ft) and 2,377.5 m (7,800 ft). The forest is best known for its namesake giant sequoia grove, Mountain Home Grove, which is home to some of the largest giant sequoias in the world.

References

  1. ↑ "Balch Park". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey.
  2. 1 2 3 William Tweed. "The Story of Balch Park". Tulare County Treasures. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  3. ↑ Flint, Wendell D. & Law, Mike (2002). To Find the Biggest Tree (2nd ed.). Three Rivers, California: Sequoia Natural History Association. ISBN   1878441094.
  4. 1 2 Otter, Floyd L. (1963). The Men of Mammoth Forest: A Hundred-year History of a Sequoia Forest and its People in Tulare County, California. Edwards Brothers Printers, Inc. pp. 101–102, 118–119. ISBN   0961445912.
  5. ↑ Winckel, Henry (July 25, 2000). "Balch Park: So much history in the mountains". The Porterville Recorder (online edition). Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  6. ↑ Otter, Floyd L. & Dulitz, David (2007). The History of A Giant Sequoia Forest: The Story of Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest. Otter Veterinary Services, Incorporated. pp. 14, 60–61, 179–180. ISBN   978-0961445935.
  7. ↑ Foster, Daniel (1991). "Recent archaeological and historical investigations within California's demonstration forests" (PDF). California Forestry Note. Sacramento, California: California Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection: 1–15. Retrieved 16 November 2013.[ permanent dead link ]
  8. ↑ Dulitz, David - Forest Manager (August 7, 2000). "CAL FIRE Archaeology Program: Rock Basins in Mt. Home State Forest and Immediate Vicinity". Cal Fire (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection). Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  9. ↑ Otter, Floyd L. & Dulitz, David (2007). The History of A Giant Sequoia Forest: The Story of Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest. Otter Veterinary Services, Incorporated. pp. 11–67. ISBN   978-0961445935.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.