Alder Creek Grove

Alder Creek Grove (also known as Hossack, Pixley, or Ross Creek Grove) is a giant sequoia grove located within the Giant Sequoia National Monument in California, USA. A medium sized grove covering Sequoia Crest subdivision and Giant Sequoia National Monument. This grove is fairly easy to get to by driving paved or dirt roads in your car. You can visit this grove year round, but there may be snow and ice on the roads in winter so bring your tire chains. This grove is about 785 acres with stands of young and mature sequoias growing throughout the designated grove area. The largest known sequoia in this grove is Stagg Tree, the fifth largest sequoia in the world. It is on the private property, so make sure you get permission before visiting this giant. Another interesting tree in this grove is the Waterfall Tree with a huge buttress. In fact, it has the largest circumference at ground level of any sequoia, though it tapers dramatically from the ground up.

The grove is home to the Stagg tree, the fifth largest sequoia by volume, and to the Waterfall tree, which has the largest circumference at ground level of any sequoia convert|155|ft|m - this tree also holds the record for largest diameter at the ground which if mearured down the slope is convert|57|ft|m.

Noteworthy Trees

Some of the trees found in the grove that are worthy of special note are:

*Amos Alonzo Stagg: Named in 1960 this is the fifth largest tree in the world. The lower trunk is very heavy and very dark red in colour. It has a volume of 42,557 cubic feet.
*Waterfall Tree: This tree has a truly immense base due to a very large basal buttres that extends down the bank. It has a girth of 155 feet, way larger than any other giant sequoia including the Boole tree in Converse Basin which is 113.0 feet and also bigger than the General sherman in Giant Forest the largest tree of all. This tree tapers from the base up, but Wendell Flint, the Author of "to find the biggest tree" believes this tree has an outside chance of containing 30,000 cubic feet of wood, which would make it one of the top 40 largest giant sequoias.

How to Get There

You can reach Alder Creek Grove from the San Joaquin Valley by taking State Highway 190 east through the community of Springville. Continue east on Highway 190 until you reach County Route M216 (Redwood Drive). Take M216 north about 6.5 miles to the community of Sequoia Crest. There should be signs prior to and at this point saying Alder Creek Grove.

References

*cite web | url = http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia/recreation/giant_sequoia_groves.html#alder_creek
title = USDA Forest Service - Sequoia National Forest | accessdate = 2008-04-29