Shop Today Asia: Mariposa Grove

With their massive stature and multimillennium maturity, the chunky high-rise sequoias of Mariposa Grove will make you feel rather insignificant. The largest grove of giant sequoias in the park, these approximately 500 mature trees tower over 250 acres. Walking trails wind through this very popular grove, and you can usually have a more solitary experience if you come during the early evening in summer or anytime outside of summer. A major restoration project will be completed in summer 2017, and visitors will benefit from new trails, including accessible boardwalks. The removal of most of the parking lot and grove roads should translate to less traffic congestion and a more natural visitor experience. On your right as you enter the lower grove, you may recognize the Fallen Monarch from an iconic 1899 photo of the U.S. 6th Cavalry – and their horses – posed on the tree's length. Its exposed root system illustrates the sequoias' shallow but diffuse life support system. Walk a half-mile up to the 1800-year-old Grizzly Giant, a bloated beast of a tree with branches that are bigger in circumference than most of the pine trees in this forest. The walk-through California Tunnel Tree is close by, and the favored spot for ‘I visited the tall forest’ photos. Incredibly, this tree continues to survive, even though its heart was hacked out back in 1895. In the upper grove, the more famous Fallen Wawona Tunnel Tree, however, fell over in a heap in 1969 – its 10ft-high hole gouged from a fire scar in 1881. Other notable specimens include the Telescope Tree and the Clothespin Tree. Three miles from the parking lot, the wide-open overlook at Wawona Point (6810ft) takes in the entire area. It’s about a mile round-trip from the Fallen Wawona Tunnel Tree.more info:lonelyplanet