Introduction:
What? : Calaveras Big Trees State Park preserves two groves of giant sequoias.Established in 1931, Calaveras Big Trees State Park preserves two groves of giant sequoias, in addition to the giant trees reaching up to 250 feet tall, you will find here many forest trails and the Stanislaus River. The largest tree in the park located in the South Grove, this is Louis Agassiz tree, reaching well over 250 feet in height and 25 feet in diameter.
Where?
: Located on hwy 4, 23 miles northeast of Angels-Camp.
Google Map Link
When? :
The park is covered with snow during winter so check weather and driving
conditions in advance.
Due
note 1: It can be busy during holidays and weekends at mid-day, so try to come
early.
My
thoughts: Nice park with large sequoias trees, not as large or impressive as in
sequoia kings' canyon national park but still impressively big trees and nice easy
hikes in the grove.
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Natural Bridges Trail
Highway 4 Road Trip - Ebbetts Pass National Scenic Byway
The
visit:
In the spring of 1852, Augustus T. Dowd came upon a forest of enormous trees. The giant sequoia that first caught his attention was the largest in what is now the North Grove. After stories about this location where published tourists began arriving at the Calaveras North Grove by 1853, the state park was officially established in 1931.
This is a nice state park with relatively easy hikes that can fit also for families traveling with small kids.
We visit this park during Thanksgiving weekend and although there was no snow at all (2020) the south section of the park was already close for the winter, so we hiked only at the north grove.
From the parking lot and the small visitor center take the easy 1.5 miles trail that will take you inside the North Grove.
You can buy a 50c booklet that will guide
you through the trail and will give you explanations at the marked stopping
points.
You can also take the grove overlook trail, but I recommend doing the grove loop because it goes near the large sequoias.
Unfortunately,
during Thanksgiving weekend, the park is already in it winter season work-mode (no
matter that there was no snow) so the main road that is leading into the park
is close.
Because
the road was close, we did not visit the South Grove, a five-mile hiking trip
through a spectacular grove of giant sequoias in their natural setting.
There are
several other hiking options within the large park, but we did not explore any
of them.
www:
https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=551
Map:
https://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/551/files/CalaverasBigTreesFinalWebLayout101816.pdf
Additional Pictures:
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