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The Giant Sequoias that grow today on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada can grow to be over 270 feet tall, can be 40 feet across and reach over 100 feet in circumference, and can weigh up to 2.7 million pounds. These trees are the biggest (tallest combined with width) trees in the Untied States. The circumference of the tree depends on its age and on the annual moisture it has received in its lifetime. A tree’s trunk can be measured around from one point and back again to get the largest circumference of the tree at its base, just like you can measure your waist or chest.

The Sequoias have lived in California since the time of the dinosaurs, and do not die of old age. They die from toppling over as their height becomes too great for their roots to support. The stump of the first Big Tree to fall by the hands of white settlers in 1853 was 96 feet in circumference (around) and once supported 32 dancers, 17 onlookers, and the band at a party in the woods. The Sierras and other western sates were once home to many hundreds of thousands of acres of the Big Trees. They now exist in 75 groves in California, the majority protected from the lumber industry. The oldest known fallen tree has approximately 3300 annual growth rings. The only trees larger in the world are the Tule cypress in Mexico.

The three largest trees alive today can be found at Sequoia and Kings National Parks. The Washington tree stands at 246.1 feet tall and is 101.1 feet in diameter; the General Grant is 267.4 feet tall with a 107.6m circumference, and the General Sherman towers over the forest at 272.4 feet tall and measures 102.6 feet in circumference at its base. It has been estimated that the General Sherman tree could yield enough board feet of wood to build 40 -5 bedroom houses. The age of this mighty being is estimated to be between 2300 and 2700 years. Each year the General Sherman adds enough wood growth to make a 60-foot tall tree of usual proportions. Sherman’s estimate weight is 1.6 million pounds.

Of the three trees above, which is the tallest? And which is the biggest around? Which one do you think would weigh the most? (multiple its height by its circumference to estimate).

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