Calaveras Big Trees State Park

Are you into Nature walks and breathing fresh air? A must do is checking out Big Trees State Park. It is located 4 miles northeast of Arnold, California in the middle of the evaluations of Sierra Nevadas. It has been a Tourist Attraction since 1852, when the park was discovered with the Giant Sequoia trees. In 1931 Big Trees was declared a state park with over 6,498 acres that spreads from Calaveras County, into Tuolumne County. The Northern grove part of the Park has about 100 mature giant  Sequoias and the southern Grove about 1000 Sequoias. Naturalist John Muir said that the park is “A flowering glade in the very heart of the woods, forming a fine center for the student, and a delicious resting place for the weary." Who couldn’t agree more? Getting out of the normal hustle bustle of your every day life and walking the State Park will humble your soul. If you are a little more in tuned with enjoying Nature more then just a daily visit, you can camp right in the park. The park houses two main campgrounds with a total of 129 campsites, six picnic area and hundreds of miles of established trails. One of the most known trees is “The Pioneer Cabin Tree”, which is also called “The Tunnel Tree”. Sadly this tree fell over in 2017 measuring 33 feet in diameter. Its estimated to be over 1000 years old, in the 1880’s a private land owner hollowed out the tree so Tourist could drive through it. Also in the North Grove includes two Sequoias that were cut down to be made into exhibits. The “Discovery Tree” which now is a giant stump with a section of the trunk showing the holes made from an auger (type of drill) used to fell it. This stump measured 25  feet in diameter at its base and was determined by ring count to be 1,244 years old when it fell. The “Discovery Tree” was cut down to advertise the tourist attraction, which was later turn into a dance floor. The second tree called “Mother of the Forest” was stripped of the first 100 feet of bark. Today only a fire-blackened snag remains of the Mother of the Forest, and the Discovery Tree has been renamed the Big Stump; the largest tree in the North Grove today is the Empire State tree, which measures 30 feet at ground level and 23 feet at 6 feet above ground. The South Grove of the State Park, has a 5 mile hiking trip into a grove of giant sequoias. The Stanislaus River also runs through the park which during the California Gold Rush was a major mining for tens of thousands of gold seekers. You can book reservations for camping or find more information about the State Park at www.parks.ca.gov/bigtrees/