There's a large grove of Giant Sequoias not far from us, Placer County Big Trees. By the most direct route, it's 41 miles of driving - if you don't mind driving 2 hours on steep dirt roads. It's 50 miles and 1.5 hours on paved roads. It's in the American River watershed, downhill from Lake Tahoe. It's the northernmost grove of Big Trees, and it's beautiful. We got lucky one time and visited the grove when it was full of wild azaleas in blossom. Another time, dogwoods were in blossom nearby.

The "Tunnel Tree" is in the next grove south, Calaveras Big Trees State Park. It's 117 miles south of us, a 2-1/2 hour drive. This park is well-loved, a favorite camping spot. Parts of the grove look worn out by the heavy use, but other parts are still pristine. They don't allow tunnel-cutting in Big Trees anymore.

Next comes the Tuolumne Grove, on the northwest corner of Yosemite National Park. It's 235 miles from us, a 4-hour drive. And on the south side of Yosemite is the Mariposa Grove, also about a 4-hour drive from us. A third, Merced Grove, is very small. The National Park Service takes good care of the groves in Yosemite.

So, that's it here in Northern California - five groves of Giant Sequoias (plus a few lesser-known small groves). Luckily, there are lots of groves in the central Sierra, in the watersheds of the Kings, Kaweah, and Kern Rivers.

On the other side of Fresno from Yosemite is Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park, 267 miles from us, 4-1/2 hours of driving. These parks have two famous groves, Grant Grove (home of the largest trees in the world) and Giant Forest. In 2000, President Clinton declared Giant Sequoia National Monument, which includes about half of the sequoia groves currently in existence. The monument, administered by the National Forest Service, is part of Sequoia National Forest and is mostly south of Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park.

I'm surprised that I know so many groves of Giant Sequoia, but I think many Northern Californians know these same groves very well. The groves are easy to get to, and the trees are lovely. We bought a Giant Sequoia tree as a seedling about 15 years ago and planted it in our yard. It's about 15 feet high now, and looks very healthy. It was tough protecting it from deer for the first several years of its life, though. We also planted three Coast Redwoods in our yard, and they're very healthy.

-Joe-