{{Short description|Giant sequoia grove in Yosemite National Park, California, United States}} {{Use American English|date=June 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{cleanup images |date=May 2024}} {{Infobox forest | name = Tuolumne Grove | native_name = | native_lang = | native_name2 = | native_lang2 = | image = A late afternoon in Tuolumne Grove IMG 4198.jpg | image_caption = Tuolumne Grove | image_size = 200px | map = California | map_caption = | map_width = | coordinates = {{coord|37|46|09|N|119|48|36|W|display=it}} | county = [[Tuolumne County]] | region = [[California]] | country = [[United States]] | elevation = {{cvt|5,600–5,900|ft|m}} | area = | max_area = | date_max_area = | status = | established = | visitation = | visitation_year = | events = | authority = | website = | ecosystem = | classification_WWF = | classification_EPA = | classification_CEC = | disturbance = | forest_cover = | species = ''[[Sequoiadendron giganteum]]'' | indicator_plants = | lesser_flora = | fauna = }} '''Tuolumne Grove''' is a [[giant sequoia]] grove located near [[Crane Flat Campground|Crane Flat]] in [[Yosemite National Park]], at the southeastern edge of the [[Tuolumne River]] watershed.<ref>{{cite gnis |268484 |Tuolumne Grove}}</ref> It is about {{convert|16|mi}} west of [[Yosemite Village, California|Yosemite Village]] on [[California State Route 120|Tioga Pass Road]]. The grove contains many [[conifer]]s, including a few ''[[Sequoiadendron giganteum]]'' as well as ''[[Abies concolor]]'' and ''[[Pinus lambertiana]]''.
A small grove of about 25 large trees, covering around 20 acres, includes the Dead Giant, which measures 29 1/2 feet in diameter at its base. In 1878, a tunnel was cut through the Dead Giant, allowing a road to pass through it.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/sequoias.htm|access-date=2008-05-10|title=Yosemite Giant Sequoias|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.redwoodhikes.com/YosemiteNP/Tuolumne.html|title=Tuolumne Grove|website=www.redwoodhikes.com|access-date=2019-11-11}}</ref> The Dead Giant was the first [[tunnel tree]].<ref name="Frost2023">{{Cite news |author=Garrison Frost |title=The Strange History of the Redwood Tunnel Trees |publisher=Save the Redwoods League |date=May 12, 2023 |url=https://www.savetheredwoods.org/blog/redwood-tunnel-trees-mark-an-odd-marketing-legacy/}}</ref>
== Discovery and Early Exploration ==
Tuolumne Grove lies near Crane Flat in Yosemite and contains about two dozen mature giant sequoias.
Although likely first observed by the [[Joseph R. Walker|Joseph Walker Expedition]] in 1833, Tuolumne Grove was officially discovered on May 10, 1858, by Dr. J. L. Cogswell and eight companions from [[Second Garrotte|Garrote, California]]. They named the hollow giant tree "King Solomon’s Temple," later known as the Dead Giant.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Yosemite Nature Notes|journal=Yosemite Park Archives|year=1937|volume=10|issue=4|pages=45–50}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=McFarland |first=James W. |title=A Guide to the Giant Sequoias of Yosemite National Park |year=1949 |chapter=The Three Giant Sequoia Groves |url=https://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/sequoias_of_yosemite/groves.html |access-date=28 September 2024}}</ref> The party, initially hunting near Crane Flat, accidentally discovered a cluster of sequoias after losing track of a wounded deer. Cogswell's report in the ''[[San Francisco Evening Bulletin]]'' soon made Tuolumne Grove a popular stop for Yosemite visitors.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Discovery of the Tuolumne Grove|author=Cogswell, Dr. J.L.|date=1858|newspaper=San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin}}</ref>
== Early Tourism and Access == By the late 19th century, Tuolumne Grove was promoted as a scenic stop on the overland routes into Yosemite. Stage and wagon roads connected Big Oak Flat ([[Groveland,_California|Groveland]]) to Yosemite Valley via Crane Flat, deliberately routing travelers through the Tuolumne Grove of “mammoth trees.” Newspaper advertisements and travel guides from the 1860s–1880s advertised this route as a pleasant ride "down the Tuolumne grove of big trees." As tourism grew, the old [[California_State_Route_120#Route_description|Big Oak Flat Road]] (later known as Old Tioga Road) became one of the first carriage routes into the park.<ref>{{cite book|title=Yosemite: The Complete Guide|author=Ansel Adams|year=1980|publisher=Houghton Mifflin}}</ref>
In 1882–1883, the trail through the grove was improved to a wagon road. By 1917, the historic Old Big Oak Flat Road was realigned and paved for automobiles, though an original segment (the "Old Tioga Road") still leads hikers and snowshoers into the grove.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tuolumne Grove of Sequoias Improvements|date=1917|newspaper=Yosemite Gazette}}</ref>
== Dead Giant Tunnel Tree (1878) == [[File:Dead Giant, Tuolumne Grove, Diam. 30 Ft. 8 In. (29843113440).jpg|thumb|The Dead Giant photographed by [[Carleton Watkins]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Photographs of Carleton Watkins|journal=California Historical Society Quarterly|year=1950|volume=29|issue=2|pages=120–126}}</ref>]] In 1878, William McCarthy and brothers James J. and Dave Lumsden cut a 12-foot-high tunnel through the trunk of the burned-out Dead Giant stump so that stages and wagons could pass. According to contemporaries, this was the first giant sequoia [[tunnel tree]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Dead Giant Tunnel Completed|date=1878|newspaper=Yosemite Journal}}</ref> The tunnel (about 30 feet in diameter) was completed just before June 1878, and stagecoaches regularly traversed it as they shuttled tourists between Crane Flat and [[Yosemite Valley]].
== Conservation and Park History == Tuolumne Grove has been part of Yosemite’s protected lands since the park’s creation. In 1864, Congress granted [[Yosemite Valley]] and the [[Mariposa Grove]] to California for preservation, and in 1890 Yosemite was established as a national park by federal law.<ref>{{cite book|title=The National Parks: America's Best Idea|author=Ken Burns|year=2009|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf}}</ref> This 1890 act greatly expanded the park’s boundaries to include much of the upper [[Tuolumne River]] watershed (encompassing the grove).<ref>{{cite book|title=Yosemite: The Complete Guide|author=Ansel Adams|year=1980|publisher=Houghton Mifflin}}</ref> The grove thereafter fell under park administration.
In the early 20th century, the U.S. Army (and later the [[National Park Service]]) managed Yosemite, maintaining trails and removing fallen logs to protect the trees and reduce fire risk. Over time, fire suppression policies and later prescribed burning were applied to help sustain the sequoias.
On July 19, 2025, Angela Lin was fatally injured by a falling tree branch while hiking on an established trail in Tuolumne Grove.<ref name="Harrell2025">{{Cite news |author=Ashley Harrell |title=Bay Area woman, 29, dies in Yosemite National Park after being struck by falling tree branch |publisher=SFGATE |date=July 28, 2025 |url=https://www.sfgate.com/california-parks/article/yosemite-national-park-tree-kills-google-employee-20790840.php}}</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed" heights="130px" widths="130px"> Image:Tuolumne Grove Trailhead 04 (4245556948).jpg|Tuolumne Grove Trailhead Image:Looking up biggest in Tuolumne Grove.jpg|The largest tree in Tuolumne Grove Image:Tunnel tree in Tuolumne Grove.jpg|The Dead Giant Image:Tuolumne Grove Trailhead 12 (4244822373).jpg|The roots of a fallen giant sequoia. </gallery>
[[Image:Tuolumne-grove-topo.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Map of Tuolumne Grove Area]]
==See also== * [[List of giant sequoia groves]] * [[Mariposa Grove]] - a nearby giant sequoia grove in Yosemite National Park. * [[Merced Grove]] - a nearby giant sequoia grove in Yosemite National Park. * [[Nelder Grove]] - a nearby giant sequoia grove in the Sierra National Forest. * [[History of California]] * [[Tourist attraction]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{commons category-inline}}
[[Category:Giant sequoia groves]] [[Category:Forests of California|Sequoiadendron]] [[Category:Yosemite National Park]] [[Category:Protected areas of Tuolumne County, California]]