Amos Alonzo Stagg Tree Hike

AMOS ALONZO STAGG TREE HIKE

Season:	May through November
Distance:	1/2 mile round trip
Elevation:	6,500 feet
Gain & Loss:	about 300 feet
Difficulty:	Easy – one hour
Drinking Water:	Some at Alder Creek, 200 yards

Turn off Highway 190 on Redwood Drive 2 1/2 miles above Camp Nelson. continue on about 5 miles through Alpine Village and Sequoia Crest subdivisions. At the end of Redwood Drive it turns down hill and sharply to the left to become Alder Drive. Go straight ahead on the dirt road until you come to a clearing and the remains of a once-busy logging camp. Park here and begin your hike on down the same road for about 1/4 mile. The trail down to the Stagg Tree is signed.

This tree is the sixth most voluminous living thing in the world, and is THE largest specimen under private ownership. It was dedicated to Amos Alonzo Stagg, the great pioneer football coach, on his 99th birthday anniversary.

The owner has generously granted public access. Please respect his property by not smoking or littering.

 

Statistics:

 

Height:	243 feet
Mean Diameter at Breast Height:	22.8 feet
Mean Diameter at the Ground:	29 feet
Volume of wood in main truck:	42,560 cubic feet

 

The Stagg Tree is in the Alder Creek Grove (the creek is just down the road a piece) and is the largest tree outside of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. The volume of the Stagg Tree is 81% of that of the largest, the General Sherman Tree in the Sequoia National Park.

 

It is not know why these magnificent trees do not propagate naturally elsewhere, because they grow very well almost everywhere they are transplanted – New Zealand, Spain, Germany, Australia, Europe, China, Japan, North Coastal California, etc. Notice how many young trees have sprouted in the surrounding area since the white woods were logged from the grove in the 1950’s. The young Sequoias are the feathery ones with the pointy tops which look like upside-down icicles. Notice how prickly the needles are and that they grow all around the twigs.