General Grant Loop

This is a very pleasant walk through of some of the largest trees on earth. It is awe inspiring and General Grant is affectionately known as America's Christmas Tree. The hike is easy for most anybody. General Grant is the second largest tree on earth. That's about as good an intro to raise interest as possible. It's a truly beautiful and spectacular sight. It is 267 feet tall with a trunk 107 feet around the base. It weighs over 4 million pounds and is approximately 2000 years old. This is an easy hike and well worth seeing. The hike is mostly flat and is a short loop with things to see the whole way. It's less than 1 mile round trip. It starts out nice with huge trees right at the parking lot. As you begin hiking you will come to Centennial Stump. Seeing a stump really shows how big these trees are but is a sad reminder of the past. Next up you will come to the very famous and popular Fallen Monarch. You can walk through the rotted trunk. It fell down after being burned over 300 years ago. It was once used to stable horses for the Army. Next up we came to the Gamlin Cabin which is an old cabin built by cattle ranchers in 1872. From just past the cabin, you will see the General Grant. We continued on the loop and got views from several sides. It's amazing to see. There are several other giants to see on the way back to the parking lot. I am very fascinated with these trees! This was a must do for us and it was less crowded than the easy access groves in nearby Sequoia National Park. This is well worth the stop!