Travel: A Trip to Calaveras Big Trees State Park
Report and pictures by Ras H. Siddiqui
Our Memorial Day 2018 family plans pointed towards doing something quiet and simple. With the last of the Siddiqui daughters graduating from high school
the following week, some time to relax and enjoy the natural beauty present in
California was warranted. And
within that realm one cannot
overlook the wonders which our
Golden State has to offer. One of
these is the presence of some of
the mightiest trees on the planet
aptly named the “Giant Sequoia” indicative of
nature gone wild.
Akin to the Blue Whale of the ocean (possibly the largest mammal to ever exist), the Giant
Sequoias also remains a mystery and makes one
wonder. How and why did these trees ever get so
big? Just being in their presence makes one feel diminutive, and in awe of their majesty!
Te Giant Sequoias can be found along the
western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain
range in California. Tere are several areas of preserved groves where giant trees (if one includes the
taller Coast Redwoods) can be seen in our state.
From the Sacramento area one can go up all the
way north to Crescent City-Humboldt County
region or drive down to Yosemite National Park
and further south to the biggest giants of them all
at Sequoia National Park. Last year we attempted
to visit Mariposa Grove near Yosemite’s south entrance but it was closed to visitors. But we did not
complain too much because our family had a great
time travelling through Tioga Pass in the summer
of 2017. Te only drawback there was that we were
amongst thousands of other visitors at Yosemite.
Tis year we wanted to visit someplace quieter for
a nice family hike. In visiting the Calaveras Big
Trees State Park we hit the jackpot.
Another big plus about Big Trees is that it
took us just two hours or so to get there. It is approximately 100 miles or less from our area. For
those who want to plan a single day trip from Sacramento, it can be done. But we wanted a little bit
more time and looked forward to a relaxing drive
back, so we included an overnight stay in the town
of Murphys, California off Highway 4 not too far
away (about 20 minutes or so) from the park entrance. We took off from home at around 11 AM,
drove south to Freeway 50 towards Tahoe and
took the Latrobe Road exit driving through rolling
hills to Highway 16 and connecting with Highway
49 driving south through Drytown and passing
by Amador City and Sutter Creek, through San
Andreas before connecting with Highway 4 at Angels Camp. Tere is a great deal of California Gold
Rush history to be explored in this region but our
focus was on Big Trees which we reached a little
past 1 PM.
Te park entrance is a short distance from
the North Grove of Big Trees State Park. Te entry
fee was $12 per vehicle which is $2 more than the
usual, this being a holiday weekend. Tis North
Grove area is readymade for tourists and photo
opportunities. Not only does it contain a Visitor
Center but the massive stump of the once mighty
Discovery Tree can be found here along with a
felled piece just next to it. Stairs lead visitors to the
top of the Big Stump. It is rumored that it was once
used as a dance floor.
Reaching the North Grove Trail is not too
difcult. Te numbered landmark areas point to
the many of the giant trees that await visitors here.
A rough estimate of the people we ran into here
would run into a couple of hundred and not the
thousands that one encounters in Tahoe or Yosemite. Te trail is approximately 1.7 miles and
we enjoyed walking through it (it was not a taxing
hike). Te trees one encounters here are impressive. Just as a side note, cell phones do not work
in the area and we lost access traveling up Hwy. 4
just beyond Murphys. And it did bring some diffculty and some humor into our trip. Te fve of us
ended up as two separate groups, and we somehow
kept missing each other in our quest to re-group.
We attributed this to Murphy’s Law (whatever can
go wrong will go wrong). We had planned a joint
family picnic lunch which was delayed for about
an hour because we were trying to locate each
other. Te lesson we learned is that one should not
become too dependent on cell phones and always
plan on a single designated meeting place before
you venture out where there is even a remote possibility of splitting up.
Afer our delayed picnic lunch (or “Linner”
by the time we were done) we decided to try the
South Grove of the park and were sure glad that
we did. To reach the access to this southern location one has to drive on another route from the Big
Trees park entrance. It took us around 20 minutes
(almost 9 miles) to reach the South Grove parking
lot. We were there roughly at 4 pm and found the
surroundings a bit more Spartan than the North
Grove. It is about a mile hike from the parking lot
just to the entrance of the South Grove Trail which
in itself is quite a hike (but not as grueling as parts
of Yosemite). One has to be in reasonably good
shape because it is roughly a 2.5- to 3-hour journey going up a ways and returning down. A creek
keeps one company most of the way and the sound
of running water added to the charm of the place.
We did not encounter much in terms of wildlife
but the blooming white flowers against the backdrop of green foliage and giant tree trunks were
quite heavenly. And this time Murphy’s Law did
not come into play. We all made it together
up to the hollowed Palace Hotel Tree and to the
spectacular Agassiz Tree, a true giant of the park
where the trail ended. We only encountered about
50 people as we trekked the 5 miles through some
great pathways, encountered spectacular giant
trees and saw nature at its best before returning to
our vehicle around 7:30 pm. We had a great time
hiking and would certainly recommend this part
of the Calaveras Big Trees State Park to readers.
Te following day was one for some easy
tourism. On the drive back (in our old Toyota
Sequoia no less), we picked up some sandwiches
in Plymouth on Highway 49 and drove to the
Shenandoah Valley nearby for lunch. Coming
home we returned through Placerville and rated
this overnight trip a two thumbs up.
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