Brigadier General Charles Young Tree

Brigadier General Charles Young Tree is a single giant sequoia along Moro Rock/Crescent Meadow Road near Auto Log. It is not a grove walk, but it is a worthwhile short stop if Sequoia’s history interests you: park at Auto Log and follow the short path about a tenth of a mile to the tree. Pair it with the distinct Booker T. Washington Tree across the road. In winter, expect to hike, snowshoe, or ski in when the road is closed. For a photo, step back enough to frame the current-name sign and furrowed trunk together; bark without the sign could be any big sequoia.

In 1903, local supporters proposed naming a sequoia for Charles Young. He declined and chose a nearby tree for Booker T. Washington instead, saying they could name one for him twenty years later if they still felt the same. They did: this tree was dedicated to Young in 2004, 101 years after the proposal. On July 28, 2024, it was renamed Brigadier General Charles Young Tree after his posthumous promotion.

Young was the first African American superintendent of a national park. In 1903 he served as acting superintendent of Sequoia and General Grant parks. His Ninth Cavalry troops patrolled against poaching and livestock grazing, built the first wagon road to Giant Forest, and extended it to the base of Moro Rock. This tree stands along the route they helped open; the other namesake across the road recalls the honor Young chose to give someone else.