• Giant Sequoia Trees

    Sequoia & Kings Canyon

    National Parks California

  • Road Construction Delays in Sequoia NP through Mid-Aug. (if entering/exiting via Hwy. 198)

    Expect 20-minute to 1-hour delays on weekdays and 20-minute delays on weekends along main road through parks. Weeknight closures with one pass through the construction zone at 11:30 p.m. See link to schedule and map or call 559-565-3341 (press 1, 1, 1,). More »

  • 22-foot Vehicle Length Limit in Sequoia National Park

    Planning to see the "Big Trees" in Sequoia National Park? If you enter/exit via Hwy. 198, all vehicles must be less than 22 feet in length. Even vehicles towing trailers must be less than 22 feet in combined length. Longer vehicles must enter at Hwy. 180. More »

  • Road Conditions in the Parks

    For the latest road and weather conditions, call 559-565-3341 (press 1, 1, 1) More »

SPROUTS

The Rangers in the Classroom program, SPROUTS (Student Phenologists Researching Oaks to Understand Trees and Science) engages students in recording and observing phenological events of oak species in their school yard. The SPROUTS program provides students with a hands-on learning opportunity utilizing two relatively new sciences: phenology and citizen science:

Citizen science is a research and education tool that allows everyday people to use methods such as biological inventory, long-term monitoring and research to form real and meaningful conclusions about their environment.  Citizen science is specifically focused on creating opportunities for non-scientists to experience science first-hand and to develop a connection with the natural world. On a large scale, citizen science may inform the broader community through increasing sense of stewardship and data collection and application.

Methods used in citizen science such as biological inventory and long-term monitoring are also tools for phenology. Phenology measures the timing of life cycle events in plants, animals, and microbes, and detects how the environment influences the timing of those events. As life cycle events vary from year to year based on weather, climate and resource availability; phonological observations are simple ways to measure environmental changes such as climate change.   

The SPROUTS program uses digital web cameras or phenocams located in the Foothills region of Sequoia National Park to provide students with opportunities to make comparisons between Valley Oak in their schoolyard and Blue Oak or Interior Live Oak found inside of the park’s boundary. Using the webcam images, students can monitor tree canopy phenology while also recording budburst, first leaf and leaf shedding using the camera’s telephoto capabilities.

 
Phenocam images
Phenocams of a Blue Oak and a California Buckeye in the Foothills
 

Learn More About Phenology & Citizen Science
Nature's Notebook
A national plant and animal phenology observation program

Project Budburst
Share observations of phenophases

Citizen Science Central
Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Citizen Science Toolkit

Kids in Nature
University of California Santa Barbara nature program for underrepresented and underserved youth

Climate Change Response Program
The National Park Service science program on climate change

Did You Know?

The Four Guardsmen (four sequoias), with the Generals Highway running between them.

Sometimes you will see sequoias in a straight row. This may happen because sequoia seeds prefer mineral-rich burned ground. When a fallen log burns long and hot, it leaves a strip of bare mineral-rich soil — an ideal place for new sequoias to grow. Years later, we see a line of sequoias!