1 min
Overview
This short loop and additional out-and-back spur trail exploring Big Stump Basin offers a lesson in the brief, but destructive sequoia timber boom as well as a sequoia grove’s remarkable ability for renewal and regrowth. A trio of emerald green meadows set the backdrop for several notable stumps, historic sites, and other curiosities, as well as fine destinations for casual explorations in the Grant Grove area. The numerous “big stumps” you will witness in your explorations are the legacy of several decades of rampant timber exploitation that occurred throughout the groves in the upper reaches of the Kings River basin. Unlike the then-rugged and remote Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park, the groves surrounding today’s Grant Grove Village were easy targets for Bay Area lumber barons thanks to the dense, magnificent forests and the ease of access from the Central Valley. While Giant Forest was never logged, most of the sequoia groves outside of Grant Grove and North Grove fell victim to axes, saws, and a convoluted downhill transportation system before a lack of commercial success allowed conservation to gain the upper hand. Between 1883 and 1889, the Smith-Comstock Mill, located on the eastern edge of the basin’s largest meadow, engaged in efforts to log the grove. Several curiosities along the way offer a peek into the operating methods of sequoia logging. Given that sequoia trees are so exceptionally large, they tend to shatter upon impact with the earth, which tended to reduce the amount of usable timber from a fallen sequoia to about 25%. You can view an example of a shattered tree on the west end of the meadow. To counteract this tendency to shatter, loggers created “feather beds,” wherein they would dig a deep trench in the place where they anticipated a logged sequoia would land. They would fill the trench with smaller branches, boughs, and softer vegetation in order to cushion the impact of a toppled sequoia. You can also view a set of somewhat difficult to discern feather beds on the south side of th
Trail Stats
3.3 km
106 m
1933 m
1840 m
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Photos
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