Sequoia National Park

Sequoia National Park became the second national park in 1890 and now extends over 404,000 acres and its land mass spans over 13,000 vertical feet, capped by Mt. Whitney at 14,505 feet in altitude. Kings Canyon NP, Sequoia NP, and Sierra National Forest (and the Sequoia National Monument) abut and intermingle here in this most rugged segment of the Sierra Nevada Range.

The General Sherman Tree is the largest tree on Earth by volume and is in the section of the park named by John Muir the "Giant Forest" which is home to five of the ten largest trees in the world. The park's giant sequoia forests are part of 202,430 acres of old growth forests shared by Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. 84% of the park is designated wilderness and is accessible only by foot or horseback. In fact, only one road, Generals Highway, leads into the park and is shared with Kings Canyon NP. No road in either park crosses the Sierra Nevada to the east.

The Sherman Tree (below) is 275 feet tall.  Like many sequoia, the top is dead, but the tree continues to add to its huge cylindrical trunk. In fact, they estimate this tree adds as much bark to its bulk annually to equal another large tree of most other species! Its current circumference is 103 feet. If its volume were filled with water, it would contain enough water for 9844 baths, one a day for 27 years. Its largest branch is nearly seven feet in diameter.

This is called "Auto Log," a sequoia that fell in 1917 and for years was used to photograph autos driving on its surface...

Moro Rock is a wonderful overlook of the park and is accessible via this 400-step stairway, built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, that takes you up 300 vertical feet to the rock's top. The stairs are cut into and poured onto the rock, and the stairway is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The view from the top encompasses much of the park, including the Great Western Divide, and is at an elevation of 6,725 feet.

Here's the view from atop Moro Rock...

Tunnel Log is a tunnel cut through a fallen giant sequoia tree in Sequoia National Park. The tree, which measured 275 feet tall and 21 feet in diameter, fell across a park road on December 4, 1937, due to natural causes. The following year, a crew cut an 8-foot tall, 17-foot wide tunnel through the trunk, making the road passable again, as seen below...