General Sherman Tree
add photosThe General Sherman Tree is the largest tree in the world, and among one of the tallest. Take the 1/4 mile trail downhill from the parking lot on the road to Wolverton, or stop at the Shuttle Stop near the road for a quick walk to the tree.
2 Reviews for General Sherman Tree
388
206
'11, '12
1 family found this helpful
"Amazing tree, unfriendly trail"
We found the parking and trail down to this massive tree to be quite un-family friendly. On our winter trip, we parked at the top lot off of the Wolverton Road because we thought the bottom parking lot was reserved only for handicap parking. The trail was wide and nice and less than 1/2 mile, but there were lots of steps down. It was clearly marked that the trail descends about 200 feet down to the tree. We needed to use a restroom but the bathroom at the top of the trail was not "winterized" and we had to wait to get to the bottom of the trail.
About 3/4 of the way there, we reached the "footprint" of the General Sherman which was a large turnout on the trail with a very large stone circle that marks the dimensions of the base of the tree. Really cool... and great for our kids to see.
At the bottom of the hill, the trail forks into many paths which take you past many different amazing Giant Sequoias, including walking through a fallen one. At last we reached the viewing point of the General Sherman and we were impressed and humbled with it's massive creation.
The un-friendly aspect of this trail was the prospect of hiking back up the trail to our car. I knew my 3 year old would not make it unless I carried her because she had already been crying from tiredness and hunger. I considered wishing that we had brought a jogging stroller to help her, but I realized that it would not work on the trail because the stairs came in sets of 4 or 5 which no jogging stroller (or any stroller) could hurdle. The borders of the trail are guarded by stones and a cement curb, which would prohibit bypassing the steps either. My husband ended up hiking back to the car and driving down and around to the shuttle stop, which by now was loaded with other cars (without handicap placards) to pick us up.
Recommendations:
* If you come in the winter, usually the upper lot is closed by snow, so park in the lower lot which provides easy and flat access to the General Sherman.
* Come early in the day: before 11 am, if you would like to find easy parking and a less crowded trail. The trails and lot were completely packed in the afternoon!
* If you come in the summer, consider taking the shuttle, or asking for an "accessibility" pass that will allow parking in the lower lot, if you have a stroller.
It's definitely worth visiting this area to see the largest tree in the world! But if you are wanting to take a trail to see the Giant Sequoias, consider taking a trail at Crescent Meadow or the Big Trees Trail.
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1 family found this helpful
"The largest tree in the world is even larger than we ever imagined!"
This 1/2mile trail isn't much of a hike and its often crowded but no trip to Sequoia is complete without seeing the largest living thing on earth. All of the Sequoias in the Giant Forest are massive but General Sherman is a force to be reckoned with. Pictures never do it justice. We all look like ants when standing at the base of these trees.
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