The Giant Sequoia -- Forest Masterpiece

It is difficult to appreciate the size of the giant sequoias because neighboring trees are so large. The largest of the sequoias are as tall as an average 26-story building, and their diameters at the base exceed the width of many city streets. As they continue to grow, they produce about 40 cubic feet of wood each year, approximately equal to the volume of a 50-foot-tall tree one foot in diameter.

The ages of the General Sherman, General Grant and other large sequoias are unknown, but it is estimated that these giants are between 1800 and 2700 years old. They have seen civilization come and go, survived countless fires and long periods of drought, and continue to flourish -- inspiring yet another generation of admirers.

The 30 Largest Giant Sequoias (as of December 2002)

	TREE	LOCATION	HEIGHT (Feet)	CIRCUMFERENCE (Feet)	VOLUME (Cubic feet)
1.	General Sherman	Giant Forest	274.9	102.6	52,508
2.	Washington	Giant Forest	254.7	101.1	47,850
3.	General Grant	Grant Grove	268.1	107.5	46,608
4.	President	Giant Forest	240.9	93.0	45,148
5.	Lincoln	Giant Forest	255.8	98.3	44,471

6.	Stagg	Alder Creek	243.0	109.0	42,557
7.	Boole	Converse Basin	268.8	113.0	42,472
8.	Genesis	Mountain Home	253.0	85.3	41,897
9.	(Franklin, near Washington)	Giant Forest	223.8	94.8	41,280
10.	(King Arthur)	Garfield	270.3	104.2	40,656

11.	(Monroe, near Auto Log)	Giant Forest	247.8	91.3	40,104
12.	Robert E. Lee	Grant Grove	254.7	88.3	40,102
13.
	(J. Adams, near Cattle Cabin)	Giant Forest	250.6	83.3	38,956
14.	Ishi Giant	Kennedy	248.1	105.1	38,156
15.	(Near Pershing)	Giant Forest	243.8	93.0	37,295

16.	(Summit)	Mountain Home	244.0	82.2	36,600
17.	(Euclid)	Mountain Home	272.7	83.4	36,122
18.	Washington	Mariposa Grove	236.0	95.7	35,901
19.	Pershing	Giant Forest	246.0	91.2	35,855
20.	(Diamond)	Atwell	286.0	95.3	35,292

21.	Adam	Mountain Home	247.4	94.2	35,017
22.	(Roosevelt or "False Hart")	Redwood Mountain	260.0	80.0	35,013
23.	Nelder	Nelder	266.2	90.0	34,993
24.	(AD)	Atwell	242.4	99.0	34,706
25.	Hart	Redwood Mountain	277.9	75.3	34,407


26.	Grizzly Giant	Mariposa Grove	209.0	92.5	34,005
27.	Chief Sequoyah	Giant Forest	228.2	90.4	33,608
28.	Methuselah	Mountain Home	207.8	95.8	32,897
29.	Great Goshawk	Freeman Creek	255.2	90.2	32,783
30.	(Hamilton)	Giant Forest	238.5	82.6	32,783

Data from Flint, Wendell D. 2002. To Find the Biggest Tree. Three Rivers, CA: Sequoia Natural History Association.

Names in parentheses are unofficial designations, proposed by Wendell Flint, followed by a location (e.g. "near Cattle Cabin")

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http://www.nps.gov/seki/bigtrees.htm
Last update: February 13, 2003