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 Hollow Log was known to early Native Americans who frequented the Tule River watershed, but its first recorded mention is in 1856 when soldiers used it as a headquarters for patrols hunting Indian renegades during the Tule River Indian War. Known for many years as the "Soldiers Log", it was a popular destination for settlers visiting the surrounding grove of Giant Sequoia trees. Among these early visitors was a local sheep farmer named Clinton T. Brown, who carved his initials and the date 1870 on the log.
The log was part of a 160-acre (65 ha) parcel of land that John J. Doyle in 1885 acquired, with plans to make the area into a resort to be called "Summer Home." He first used the log as a dwelling, and then as a fruit cellar for an apple orchard that he planted a few miles away. Doyle next had the rough end of the log sawed off in 1888 so that the rest of the log could be moved to a railroad siding and mounted on wheels to be used as a railroad dining car for a promotion tour to the eastern United States. However, the log was spared when measurements revealed that it was too large fit through the railroad tunnels on the planned journey. Ultimately Dole's Hollow Log became the center attraction for his Summer Home resort, which for a few years was a popular tourist destination. Doyle's fortunes waned in later years, and he sold his property, along with the log and surrounding grove, in 1906 to the Mt. Whitney Power Company. The land eventually passed to Allan and Janet Balch, who in 1930 donated the property to Tulare County for a park, so that the Hollow Log and nearby Giant Sequoia trees would be preserved for future generations. [1] [2] [3]
The Hollow Log is about 75 feet (22.9 m) long with a diameter of 15 feet (4.6 m). It originally was longer, but in 1888 the end was sawed off. Although steel cables are bound around the log to prevent it from collapsing, it is still possible to walk and crawl all the way through it from one end to the other.
Nelder Grove, formerly known as Fresno Grove when it was within a much larger 19th-century Fresno County, is a Giant sequoia grove located in the western Sierra Nevada within the Sierra National Forest, in Madera County, California.
The Washington tree is a giant sequoia in the Giant Forest Grove in Tulare County, California, within Sequoia National Park. It is named after George Washington, first President of the United States. Until it partially collapsed in January 2005, the Washington tree was the second largest tree in the world. Though badly damaged, the tree is still living.
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 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 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.
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 112 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 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.
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 General Noble Tree was a Giant Sequoia tree formerly within the Converse Basin Grove, with its site located in Giant Sequoia National Monument of the Sierra Nevada, in Fresno County, California. It was one of the largest trees on the planet during that time, before it was felled in 1892 to create an exhibit for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago.
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.
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 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.
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 Hume-Bennett Lumber Company was a logging operation in the Sequoia National Forest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The company and its predecessors were known for building the world's longest log flume and the first multiple-arch hydroelectric dam. However, the company also engaged in destructive clearcutting logging practices, cutting down 8,000 giant sequoias in Converse Basin in a decade-long event that has been described as "the greatest orgy of destructive lumbering in the history of the world."
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.
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.
Charles Clifford Curtis was a pioneering American photographer who is best remembered for his documentary photography of the logging industry in the Sierra Nevada mountains in the late 19th century. His photographs, which captured the felling of the famous Mark Twain Tree and the General Noble tree, helped to convince the public that these giant sequoias were not a hoax. Curtis was well-known for his use of large plate photography, which allowed him to capture portraits of people and gatherings that were dwarfed by the scale of the giant trees. His images of logging crews working in the rugged terrain of Converse Basin are considered some of the most iconic and enduring images of the era.
Coordinates: 36°13′13″N118°40′46″W / 36.220404°N 118.679318°W