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".
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".
A wealthy rancher from Lindsay, California, named Jesse Hoskins (1849–1908) in 1884 purchased an eighty-acre tract of giant sequoia trees in the southern Sierra Nevada from the United States government and named it Camp Lena. Hoskins, who spent his summers among the Camp Lena sequoias, chose biblical and classical themed names for the largest trees, and placed wooden name plates twenty feet off the ground on many of the better-known ones. After spending several summers studying one giant tree that he named the Hercules Tree, he decided that he could carve out the center of it without damaging the tree, and with the help of a Mr. Meyers between 1897 and 1902 he drilled and hand cut a 12 feet (3.7 m) diameter by 9 feet (2.7 m) high room, to which he added a hinged wooden door. Hoskins tried living in this room, but it leaked sap, so he made it into a gift shop where he sold redwood trinkets made of wood left over from carving out the room. [1] [2]
The Camp Lena tract remained in Hoskins' family until 1913, when it was sold. Although timber sales in 1956 resulted in some logging that was condemned by the Sierra Club, the Hercules Tree and various other large redwoods in the immediate vicinity were exempted. [3] The Hercules Tree was protected for all time in 1977 when the Camp Lena tract was purchased by the State of California and incorporated into the Mountain Home State Demonstration Forest. A fire started by a cigarette butt on 4 September 1984 did cause some damage to the tree, and the door and Hoskins' name plate have since been stolen, but otherwise the tree is still standing, and the room can still be entered. [4] [5]
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.
The Giant Forest, famed for its giant sequoia trees, is within the United States' Sequoia National Park. This montane forest, situated at over 6,000 ft (1,800 m) above mean sea level in the western Sierra Nevada of California, covers an area of 1,880 acres (7.6 km2). The Giant Forest is the most accessible of all giant sequoia groves, as it has over 40 mi (64 km) of hiking trails.
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.
Garfield Grove is a Giant Sequoia grove. The entire 2,902 acres (11.74 km2) lies in Sequoia National Park in the Sierra Nevada range in eastern California in the United States.
Lincoln is the name of a huge giant sequoia located in Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park. It is currently considered by many to be the fourth largest tree in the world.
The Boole Tree is a giant sequoia in the Giant Sequoia National Monument, Fresno County, California. The Boole Tree is the eighth tallest sequoia in the world and is the largest in terms of base circumference at 113 feet. It is estimated to be more than 2,000 years old. The tree's stature is accentuated by its isolation above the Kings River where it towers over the rest of the forest.
The Stagg Tree, officially the Amos Alonzo Stagg Tree and formerly known as the Day Tree, is a giant sequoia in Alder Creek Grove in California's Sierra Nevada mountains. It is the fifth largest tree in the world and the tallest giant sequoia south of Lincoln in Sequoia National Park. Stagg features the second largest footprint of any living giant sequoia, measuring 109 ft (33 m) in circumference at ground level, and second only to Boole. The tree is believed to be over 3,000 years old, making it one of the oldest living giant sequoias.
The Genesis Tree is a giant sequoia that is the seventh largest tree in the world. It is located within the Mountain Home Grove, a giant sequoia grove located in Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest in the Sierra Nevada of eastern California. The Genesis Tree was heavily damaged by the Castle Fire in 2020.
Franklin is a giant sequoia in Giant Forest, a sequoia grove where the largest tree in the world lives - the General Sherman. The Franklin tree is the eighth largest giant sequoia in the world. It was named by Wendell Flint after Benjamin Franklin. Nearby trees include the Washington Tree which was once the second largest tree in the world, but since it lost half its trunk in 2005 many sequoias are now larger.
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.
The Hart Tree is a Giant sequoia tree within the Redwood Mountain Grove, in the Sierra Nevada and Fresno County, California. The Redwood Mountain Grove is protected within Kings Canyon National Park and the Giant Sequoia National Monument. It is the 25th largest giant sequoia in the world, and could be considered the 24th largest depending on how badly Ishi Giant atrophied during the Rough Fire in 2015.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Pioneer Cabin Tree, also known as The Tunnel Tree, was a giant sequoia in Calaveras Big Trees State Park, California. It was considered one of the U.S.'s most famous trees, and drew thousands of visitors annually. It was estimated to have been more than 1,000 years old, and measured 33 feet (10 m) in diameter; its exact age and height were not known. The tree was topped before 1859. It fell and shattered during a storm on January 8, 2017.
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. It was severely burned in the Castle Fire in 2020 and may be moribund.