The Grove of Titans is a redwood grove in Del Norte County, Northern California, with several massive coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) trees, some of the largest known redwoods in terms of wood volume. The largest coastal redwood tree in the grove by volume is the single-stem Del Norte Titan. [1] The Lost Monarch is comparably large, but a large sprout from the ground at its base is not part of the main trunk structure.
The unofficially named Grove of Titans was discovered May 11, 1998, by botanist Stephen Sillett, and naturalist Michael Taylor in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. [2] The discovery implies that Sillett and Taylor are the first to realize and declare the significance of the grove, not that they were the first ones ever to see it.
In approximately 2011, a person from Oregon learned of and posted the grove's geolocation online and a surge of visitors followed. The increased boot traffic triggered problems like damage to native plants, soil compaction, difficulty for scientists, and strain on limited park resources. [3] Between 2012 and 2016, approximately 8000 sq.ft. of ferns, sorrel and other plants were destroyed by visitors. The native plant damage was most evident around a redwood called Screaming Titans. In July 2016 the parks posted a sign which states up to 3300 sq. meters impacted. [4]
Starting on Nov. 6, 2019, construction began on a 1,300-foot-long elevated walkway through the Grove of Titans. The trail segment and boardwalk opened with limited access in September 2021. The remaining 2 miles of the Mill Creek Trail renovation will be completed by early summer 2022.[ needs update ] The project cost is $3.5 million and being paid for by a partnership including Save the Redwoods League, California State Parks, the National Park Service, and Redwood Parks Conservancy. [5]
Names of the named largest redwoods in this grove include Lost Monarch, El Viejo del Norte, Screaming Titans, Eärendil and Elwing, Beregond, Aragorn, Sacajawea, Aldebaran, Stalagmight and Del Norte Titan.
Several abundant understory plants are California sword fern – Polystichum munitum and Redwood sorrel – Oxalis oregana.
The Grove of Titans is in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park of Northern California, off Howland Hill Road south of Highway 199. The closest town is Crescent City, California. The location was described by author Richard Preston in his 2007 book The Wild Trees as "the bottom of a hidden notch-like valley near a glade." The exact location was not revealed in this book for fear of excessive traffic.
Sequoiadendron giganteum, also known as the giant sequoia, giant redwood or Sierra redwood is a coniferous tree, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae. Giant sequoia specimens are the most massive trees on Earth. They occur naturally only in groves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California.
Humboldt Redwoods State Park is a state park of California, United States, containing Rockefeller Forest, the world's largest remaining contiguous old-growth forest of coast redwoods. It is located 30 miles (48 km) south of Eureka, California, near Weott in southern Humboldt County, within Northern California, named after the great German nineteenth-century scientist, Alexander von Humboldt. The park was established by the Save the Redwoods League in 1921 largely from lands purchased from the Pacific Lumber Company. Beginning with the dedication of the Raynal Bolling Memorial Grove, it has grown to become the third-largest park in the California State Park system, now containing 51,651 acres (20,902 ha) through acquisitions and gifts to the state.
The Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP) are a complex of one national park and three California state parks located in the United States along the coast of northern California. The combined RNSP contain 139,000 acres (560 km2), and include Redwood National Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. Located within Del Norte and Humboldt counties, the four parks protect 45 percent of all remaining coast redwood old-growth forests. The species is the tallest, among the oldest, and one of the most massive tree species on Earth. The parks also preserve other indigenous flora, fauna, grassland prairie, cultural resources, waterways, and 37 miles (60 km) of pristine coastline.
The Northern California coastal forests are a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of coastal Northern California and southwestern Oregon.
Sempervirens Fund, originally established in 1900 as Sempervirens Club, is California's oldest land trust. Founder Andrew P. Hill’s goal was to preserve the old-growth forest that became Big Basin Redwoods State Park, the first California state park in 1902. Sempervirens Fund's mission is to protect and permanently preserve coast redwood forests, wildlife habitat, watersheds, and other important natural features of California's Santa Cruz Mountains, and to encourage people to appreciate and enjoy this environment. Sempervirens Fund does this by purchasing land for protection and transferring it to state or local agencies. Sempervirens Fund has also worked to establish conservation easements and trail linkages between parks and coastal marine preserves. As of 2013, Sempervirens Fund has saved more than 34,000 acres of redwood lands.
Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park is a state park of California, United States, preserving old-growth redwoods along the Smith River. It is located along U.S. Route 199 approximately 9 miles (14 km) east of Crescent City. The park is named after explorer Jedediah Smith, and is one of four parks cooperatively managed as Redwood National and State Parks. The 10,430-acre (4,220 ha) park was established in 1929 and designated part of the California Coast Ranges International Biosphere Reserve in 1983.
Jesse Houghton Metcalf was an American politician, he served as a United States senator from Rhode Island.
Save the Redwoods League is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect and restore coast redwood and giant sequoia trees through the preemptive purchase of development rights of notable areas with such forests.
Hyperion is a coast redwood in California that is the world's tallest known living tree, measuring 115.92 m (380.3 ft).
The Redwood Grove of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, which is located in Santa Cruz County in Northern California, is a grove of Coast Redwoods with trees extending into the 1400- to 1800-year-old range. This grove allows for the use of self-guided tours of the flat, 0.8-mile (1.3 km) loop trail which is easily accessible. Dozens of large, Redwood trees are located within a few feet of the walking trail.
Stephen C. Sillett is an American botanist specializing in old growth forest canopies. As the first scientist to enter the redwood forest canopy, he pioneered new methods for climbing, exploring, and studying tall trees. Sillett has climbed many of the world's tallest trees to study the plant and animal life residing in their crowns and is generally recognized as an authority on tall trees, especially redwoods.
Lost Monarch is a coast redwood tree in Northern California that is 26 feet (7.9 m) in diameter at breast height, and 320 feet (98 m) in height. It is the world's fifth largest coast redwood in terms of wood volume.
Iluvatar is a redwood tree in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in Northern California that has been confirmed to be at least 20.5 feet (6.2 m) in diameter at breast height, and 320 feet (98 m) in height. Measured by botanist Stephen C. Sillett, it is the world's third-largest coast redwood, the largest being Lost Monarch.
Del Norte Titan is a coast redwood tree in Del Norte County, Northern California, that was confirmed by measuring to be at least 23.7 feet (7.2 m) in diameter at breast height, and 307 feet (94 m) tall. Measured by botanist Stephen Sillett, it ranks as the world's fifth largest coast redwood. One source recognizes it as the largest based on a single-stem measurement. But the source's recognition pre-dates a 2014 discovery in the redwood parks that is larger. Lost Monarch in the same park, is actually larger with more wood volume than Del Norte Titan, if basal stems are included. The fourth largest coastal redwood is in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park called Iluvatar.
Atlas Grove is a grove of Coast redwood trees within Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, in Humboldt County, northern California. It contains the third largest known Coast redwood, Iluvatar.
The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring is a non-fiction book by Richard Preston about California's coastal redwoods and the recreational climbers who climbed them. It is a narrative-style collection of stories from climbers who pioneered redwood climbing, including botanist Steve Sillett, lichenologist Marie Antoine, and Michael Taylor. They inadvertently discovered a thriving ecosystem hidden among the tree tops, 60–90 meters (200–300 ft) above, of redwood lattices, berry bushes, bonsai trees, epiphytes, lichens, voles, and salamanders.
Michael W. Taylor is a leading discoverer of champion and tallest trees - most notably coast redwoods. In 2006, Taylor co-discovered the tallest known tree in the world, a coast redwood now named "Hyperion". He also discovered "Helios" and "Icarus", the 2nd and 3rd tallest.
Sequoia sempervirens is the sole living species of the genus Sequoia in the cypress family Cupressaceae. Common names include coast redwood, coastal redwood and California redwood. It is an evergreen, long-lived, monoecious tree living 1,200–2,200 years or more. This species includes the tallest living trees on Earth, reaching up to 115.9 m (380.1 ft) in height and up to 8.9 m (29 ft) in diameter at breast height. These trees are also among the longest-living organisms on Earth. Before commercial logging and clearing began by the 1850s, this massive tree occurred naturally in an estimated 810,000 ha along much of coastal California and the southwestern corner of coastal Oregon within the United States.
Sequoioideae, commonly referred to as redwoods, is a subfamily of coniferous trees within the family Cupressaceae. It includes the largest and tallest trees in the world. The subfamily achieved its maximum diversity during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
The Mendocino Tree is a coast redwood located in Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve in Mendocino County, California.