The House

The House is a named group of giant sequoias in Giant Forest, growing beside the Congress Trail. Along Congress Trail, the mature sequoias include the House and Senate groups and the President Tree. It is part of a walk through the grove, not a drive-up stop of its own: if you are heading beyond General Sherman, keep following the loop and pause where the House trunks stand together.

The paved Congress Trail is a 2.7-mile lollipop-shaped route on a gentle incline, beginning near General Sherman Tree. From the main Sherman Tree parking lot, the Congress Trail junction is about a half-mile walk away, and returning to the lot involves a 200-foot uphill climb. Allow for that approach as well as the loop. Pets are not allowed on the trail.

In July 1922, superintendent Colonel John R. White named the cluster to honor the U.S. House of Representatives, at chief ranger Guy Hopping's suggestion. The House and Senate groups together are known as the Congress Group, making this stand part of a larger naming pair.

The trunks make the group more memorable than any single tree. For a photo, step back enough to fit several bases together and include a person at the foot of a trunk for scale. As you walk among the sequoias, listen for Douglas squirrels; they cut stems from cones and leave chewed cones on the ground.