Muir Grove survives Sequoia National Park wildfire
Video shows fire damage in Giant Forest, 10 miles from Muir Grove, but doesn't visit General Sherman sequoia, world's largest tree, which survived OK.
The Muir Grove of giant sequoias survived recent wildfires, as did the General Sherman tree, in California’s Sequoia National Park.
Reports on tree conditions are coming out now that park staff is replacing firefighters as the main human presence in the area.
Sequoia National Park remains closed due to the KNP Complex fire. Neighboring Kings Canyon National Park was largely unburned and has reopened.
The wildfires this summer burned low and with limited intensity in Muir Grove, an area of giant sequoias in Sequoia National Park.
The Muir Grove survived with little more than ecologically necessary clearing of forest duff.
When I visited Sequoia National Park a few years ago, I booked a campground reservation at Dorst Creek camp. When in operation, the park shuttle bus system picks up campers and delivers them to the Giant Forest area, the main visitor center in the park.
As a bonus, Dorst Creek campground has a short hiking trail to the Muir Grove of giant sequoias, which is far less visited than the more famous trees in the Giant Forest. Sequoias tend to grow in clustered groves, in conditions that suit their liking, rather than large continuous stands.
The Muir Grove sequoias are smaller than the General Sherman tree, 275 feet tall, 36 feet wide and 2,300 years old, biggest tree in the world.
This park’s video below shows a National Park Service crew entering the Giant Forest grove. The General Sherman tree survived, but the road in that section of the park needs lots of work to reopen.
The storm currently bearing down on California (Oct. 24-25) may help end the KNP fire, which ravaged the park in September.
