Alder Creek Grove

The Stagg Tree, fifth largest tree in the world by board feet

Alder Creek Grove is a Sequoiadendron giganteum grove located within the Giant Sequoia National Monument in California, USA.

Alder Creek Grove is a medium sized grove in the Sierra Nevada, covering Sequoia Crest subdivision and Giant Sequoia National Monument. This grove is about 785 acres (318 ha) with stands of young and mature giant sequoias growing throughout the grove's habitat.

Noteworthy trees

Trailer in Alder Creek Grove close to two giant sequoias

The largest known sequoia in this grove is Stagg Tree. Named in 1960 after Amos Alonzo Stagg, this is the fifth largest tree in the world by board feet (volume). It is on private property, but anyone is allowed to visit the tree if they park where signed. The hike to the Stagg Tree from the parking area is 1/3 mile (500 m); driving to it is not allowed. The trunk is very heavy and very dark red in color. It has a volume of 42,557 cubic feet (1,205.1 m3).

Another noteworthy tree in this grove is the Waterfall Tree, which has an immense base due to a very large basal buttress that extends down the bank. In fact, it has the largest circumference at ground level of any living giant sequoia, 155 feet (47 m) - this tree also holds the record for largest diameter at the ground which, if measured down the slope, is 57 feet (17 m). It tapers dramatically from the ground up. Its girth is much greater than that of any other giant sequoia including the Boole Tree in Converse Basin which is 113.0 feet (34.4 m) 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 (850 m3) of wood, which would make it one of the top 40 largest giant sequoias.

A third noteworthy tree is the Window Tree. This tree features a "window" large enough for a person to stand in which was formed when the tree was struck by lightning.

See also

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Coordinates: 36°11′08″N 118°37′41″W / 36.1855°N 118.6281°W / 36.1855; -118.6281

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